From the big-spending corridors of England to smaller cup grounds in Norway and Portugal, European football’s latest financial and sporting survey paints a game moving more money, changing more coaches and still drawing record crowds through the turnstiles.
Clubs across Europe spent more than €10 billion on summer signings, an all-time high and 8% above the previous summer. Sales also climbed, bringing in €10.3 billion, up 7% on 2025 and 45% compared with the 2024 summer window.
The figures come from UEFA’s annual study of talent and competition across more than 700 European clubs. Its review ranges from transfers and player selection to coaching turnover, stadium attendance and the growing variety of clubs reaching major domestic stages.
Quick facts
- European clubs spent over €10 billion in the summer transfer window.
- Summer player sales generated €10.3 billion across the continent.
- English clubs were involved in 52% of worldwide transfer value.
- €1.2 billion was spent on young players, with 56% of fees going on players aged 23 or under.
- Top-flight league crowds reached 116 million in 2025-26.
- There were 738 managerial changes during the previous season.
Across the full calendar year, including the winter market, first-division clubs committed €10.8 billion to recruitment. That represented 35% of their prior-year revenue, while transfer gains totalled €6.8 billion.
England remained at the centre of the international market. At least one English club featured in 52% of global transfer value, while the average fee paid for a player arriving in the Premier League reached €24 million, 8% higher than a year earlier.
Average fees rose in 12 of the 20 largest markets. A comparison between transfer fees and market valuations indicated that clubs paid around 9% above estimated value during the summer, with English and Scottish clubs each assessed at a 21% premium and Saudi Arabian clubs at 28%.
Youth recruitment accounted for a record €1.2 billion. Players aged 23 or younger absorbed 56% of all transfer spending, underlining the premium attached to potential as much as immediate experience.
Academy-developed players accounted for €2.2 billion in summer sales, or 27% of all transfer income. That share was lower than the previous window, when homegrown sales reached €2.3 billion and represented 32% of the total.
The English domestic market alone expanded by almost €700 million. It now makes up 60% of the worldwide value of internal, within-country transfers, passing the halfway mark for the first time.
A wider playing pool
European top divisions used a record 21,000 players in 2025-26, a 10% increase over the past decade. The report also found that less frequently selected players received 20% of available minutes in domestic cup football, compared with 10% in UEFA competitions and 9% in league matches.
Players from European leagues made up 68% of the 1,248 footballers involved at the most recent World Cup, won by Spain. The finding reinforces the extent to which the continent’s club competitions remain the principal environment for the international game’s player pool.
Spanish coaches were the most sought after beyond their own country, with 74 working at first- or second-tier clubs elsewhere in Europe. Italian and Croatian managers followed them in the international coaching market.
There were 738 managerial changes last season, with dismissals rising 3% from 2024-25. Two-thirds of clubs changed coach at least once; Turkish teams recorded the most switches, with 28, while Danish clubs made only eight.
Of newly appointed coaches, 76% had been out of work for less than a year, up from 73% in the preceding campaign. Most had previously played professionally, although the 68% recorded in 2025-26 was the lowest proportion since 2017-18.
Stadiums remain full
Live football continued to grow despite the expanding supply of broadcasts and online content. At least 242 million spectators attended club and international matches, while 2025-26 became the third successive season to clear 110 million across the European club game.
First-division league attendance reached 116 million, a rise of 1.4%. Growth in England, Spain and Germany—three of Europe’s five largest leagues—showed that demand for matchday football remains strong alongside the digital game.
Nineteen clubs welcomed more than one million spectators over the season: six from England, five from Germany, three each from Italy and Spain, plus one apiece from France and Scotland.
The competitive map is also broadening. During the past decade, 1,240 different clubs have appeared in their country’s top division, and six teams won a national league title for the first time in 2025-26.
In domestic cups, 91 clubs from outside the top flight reached at least the quarter-finals. Of the five lower-division sides that made their cup final, two went on to win: Norway’s Lillestrøm and Portugal’s Sporting Clube União Torreense.
