In the women’s game, the total number of international transfers also reached a new all-time high with 341 across borders, an increase of 30.2% compared to January 2022.

A total of US$774,300 was spent in the recent window – a new record.

According to Fifa’s international transfer snapshot for January 2023, a total of 4,387 international transfers were completed in men’s football in January – the most since the launch of the transfer matching system in 2010.

The US$1.57 billion spent on transfer fees was some US$230 million more than the previous January window record in 2018.

The number of transfers in men’s football increased by 14.4% compared to the same period in 2022, with the total value of transfer fees rising by 49.4% compared to the amount spent in January 2022.

English clubs topped the table for spending on international transfer fees in January 2023 with a total outlay of US$898.6m which is 57.3% of total spending in January globally – followed at a considerable distance by France with US$131.9m.