English clubs led the way in spending on players this year, says FIFA

English clubs spent the most money on players among FIFA's member associations in the transfer window which ran from June to August, world soccer's governing body said on Tuesday.

FIFA's International Transfer Snapshot report said English clubs shelled out $1,146.6 million on players in the window, which was more than the next two countries -- Spain ($473.8 million) and France ($428.9 million)-- put together.

English clubs also topped the table for incoming transfers, down from 485 last year to 380, while outgoing transfers fell from 524 to 494.

German and French clubs -- $462.7 million and $457.3 million respectively -- were ahead of England ($409.8 million) in terms of income from transfer fees, with the top five rounded off by Italy ($408.2 million) and Spain ($260.2 million).

The report added that total fees in the international transfers of players amounted to $3.72 billion, a decline of 7.5% from last year and just over 60% of the record set in 2019.

On the women's side, there were 576 transfers in all, an 8.7% jump from 2020, while the number of deals involving a fee went up from 18 to 31, a jump of 72.2%.