UEFA has raised concerns over an increasingly divided European transfer market after Premier League clubs spent an estimated €4.6bn (£4bn) during the latest summer window.
The figure was higher than the combined spending of the next eight largest European markets, according to UEFA’s latest report examining club talent and competition trends across the continent.
English clubs were involved in more than 60% of major transfer activity covered by the report, paying an average of about €24m (£20.7m) for each incoming player. By comparison, average fees across the other leading European leagues were generally between €4m (£3.4m) and €5m (£4.3m).
UEFA said the scale of the difference is creating a widening gap in purchasing power and concentrating more high-value talent in England.
Transfer spending rises sharply
The 20 Premier League clubs collectively spent an amount equivalent to 56% of their annual revenue during 2026. UEFA compared that with an average of 33% across the decade before the Covid-19 pandemic.
High-value transfers have also become much more common. The number of European deals worth more than €50m rose from 14 in summer 2024 to 23 in 2025 and then to 35 in 2026.
Premier League clubs accounted for 29 of those 35 transactions.
Domestic English transfers were another major driver of the market. Spending between Premier League clubs climbed 44% to €1.55bn (£1.33bn), making the English domestic transfer route larger by fee value than the next five league-to-league flows combined.
The second-largest transfer flow was from Germany’s Bundesliga to the Premier League, worth approximately €690m (£594m).
UEFA warned that rising valuations can place additional pressure on club finances, particularly where teams depend heavily on player sales, market liquidity or continued increases in transfer prices. A fall in valuations or weakening buyer demand could create greater risks for clubs already carrying significant debt.
Academy sales provide major accounting gains
Financial regulations have also encouraged clubs to generate revenue by selling academy-developed players, whose transfer fees can generally be recorded as immediate accounting profit because they carry little or no acquisition cost on the balance sheet.
European clubs generated an estimated €6.8bn (£5.85bn) in profit from player sales during the summer, representing an increase of around €655m from 2025.
UEFA also examined whether multi-club ownership structures were being used to transfer players at artificially inflated or reduced prices.
The report found limited evidence of significant distortion. Transfers within multi-club groups generated €152m (£130.8m) in total fees, compared with an estimated combined market value of €159m (£136.8m).
More than half of that spending came from transfers involving Chelsea and Strasbourg, two clubs operating within the same ownership network.