According to a report published by FIFA, on the basis of the International Transfer Matching System data (ITMS), the Portuguese League is the most profitable. The purpose of the ITMS is to improve transparency, efficiency and governance between clubs and football associations. Portuguese clubs have generated some 230million euros in income from foreign transfers in the past twelve months.
The two biggest transfer deals involved FC Porto and the two Madrid clubs. Danilo, who moved from Brazilian club Santos to FC Porto in 2012 for 13m, joined Real Madrid for 32m last month. His fellow Dragon compatriot, the Colombian Jackson Martínez, has recently moved to the other side of the Spanish capital for 35m where he will don the shirt of Atlético Madrid.
Benfica has earned 37m with the sale of Ivan Cavaleiro 15m (Monaco, France), João Cancelo 15m (Valencia, Spain) and Lima for 7m to Al-Ahli Dubai FC. Sporting Lisbon has sold Cédric to Southampton for 6.5m where he will join Portuguese international José Fonte who captains the English Premier League outfit.
Another young Lion, Naby Sarr, has moved to Charlton Athletic in a deal that could reach 2.5m. SC Braga have transferred Eder to Swansea City and Ze Luis to Spartak Moscow for 7m each. Second in the FIFA list comes the French championship with 180m, followed by Spanish 120m, German 120m and the Netherlands 100m.
On the other hand, according to the same report, Portugal is in eighth place in t he ‘ranking’ of spenders, having laid out just 30 m. The English Premier League, not surprisingly, tops the list having splashed out 375m, more than double that of the Spanish League in second place on 176m.