Financial Governance and Transfer Policies in Football: A Positional Analysis of Expenditures in Europe’s Top Leagues

Futbolda Finansal Kontrol ve Transfer Stratejileri: Büyük Avrupa Liglerinde Harcanan Paraların Dağılımı

Taner KARAMAN¹

¹Department of Sports Managment, Okan University, Istanbul, Türkiye, E-mail: tnrkrmn@gmail.com ORCID: 0000-0002-1468-4234

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17682684

https://www.ijoss.org/Archive/issue2-volume2/ijoss-Volume2-issue2-27.pdf

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Received / Gönderim: 03.05.2025 Accepted / Kabul: 24.06.2025 Published / Yayın: 30.06.2025

Abstract

In this study, the expenditures on player purchases and sales, as well as the distribution of these expenditures by position, were examined in the top-tier football leagues of England, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and Türkiye. Covering the period from the 2014–2015 season to the 2023–2024 season, the research analyzed 19 transfer windows and revealed that teams spent a total of 48.69 billion euros. The evaluation of spending used descriptive statistical methods which analyzed data according to player positions. The analysis revealed spending trends and investment patterns that existed between different positions. The analysis reveals that teams dedicate most of their budget to midfielders and forwards but goalkeepers and defenders receive minimal funding. The analysis used club transfer market databases as reliable sources to gather data which maintained consistency throughout the research process. Football club managers and head coaches have been found to direct most of their financial investments into offense to improve their offensive capabilities while paying minimal attention to defense, while teams need strategic efforts to achieve overall economic balance.

Keywords: Management, Football Transfer, Scouting, Football Player Expenditures.

ÖZ

Bu çalışmada İngiltere, İtalya, İspanya, Fransa, Almanya ve Türkiye’nin en üst düzey futbol liglerinde oyuncu alım-satım harcamaları ve bu harcamaların mevkilere göre dağılımı incelenmiştir. 2014-2015 sezonundan 2023-2024 sezonuna kadar olan dönemi kapsayan araştırmada 19 transfer dönemi analiz edildi ve takımların toplam 48,69 milyar avro harcadığı ortaya çıktı. Harcamaların değerlendirilmesinde, verileri oyuncu pozisyonlarına göre analiz eden tanımlayıcı istatistiksel yöntemler kullanılmıştır. Araştırma, farklı mevkiler arasında var olan harcama eğilimlerini ve yatırım modellerini ortaya çıkarmıştır. Çalışma, takımların bütçelerinin çoğunu orta saha ve forvet oyuncularına ayırdığını, kaleci ve defans oyuncularının ise en az kaynağı aldığını ortaya koymuştur. İncelemede, araştırma süreci boyunca tutarlılığı koruyan verileri toplamak için güvenilir kaynaklar olarak kulüp transfer piyasası veri tabanları kullanılmıştır. Futbol kulübü yöneticileri ve baş antrenörler, hücum yeteneklerini geliştirmek için finansal yatırımlarının çoğunu hücuma yönlendirirken, savunmaya asgari düzeyde ilgi gösterdiği tespit edilirken, takımların genel ekonomik dengeyi sağlamak için stratejik çabalara ihtiyaç duymaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Yönetim, Futbol Transfer, Scouting, Futbolcu Harcamaları.

APA 7 Citation

Kahraman, T. (2025 Financial Governance and Transfer Policies in Football: A Positional Analysis of Expenditures in Europe’s Top Leagues . International Journal of Health, Exercise, and Sport Sciences (IJOSS), 2(2), 313–321. https://www.ijoss.org/Archive/issue2-volume2/ijoss-Volume2-issue2-27.pdf

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