Paris — In the close-season transfer window $4.71bn was spent worldwide, over three-quarters of which were from the top-five leagues in Europe, Fifa announced on Thursday. The world-record signing by Paris Saint-Germain of Neymar from Barcelona for €222m dominated the headlines, but many other Europe clubs also broke their transfer records. "Between June 1 and September 1, 7,590 international transfers were completed worldwide," Fifa said. "Global spending reached $4.71bn, meaning clubs spent almost as much during those three months as they had in the whole of 2016 [$4.79 bn]." PSG also signed teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe from Monaco on a season-long loan, with an option to make him the second-most expensive player yet for €180m. Largely down to PSG, the biggest increase in international transfer spending was in France, with its clubs spending $604.1m, an increase of 250% on the previous European summer. Five-time European champions Bayern Munich of Germany and Spain’s Barcelona ...
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