Turkish football transfer spending falls 75 mln euros

Ceyhun KUBURLU ISTANBUL / Hürriyet

Galataray football club paid 8.6 million euros to transfer Kayserispor’s Nordin Amrabat. Turkish football clubs witness substantial fall in transfer expenditure. DHA photo

The total transfer expenditure of the Turkish Super League dropped to 54.2 million euros this year from the 129.8 million euros recorded in 2011, as Turkish teams adjust to the new financial criteria of European football’s governing body UEFA, which will be implemented from the start of the upcoming football season.

Total expenditure recorded steady increases over the last seven years, but dropped about 75 million euros this year to date. The transfer season in Turkish football has not ended, but it is unlikely to come anywhere close to last year’s figure.

Beşiktaş, one of Istanbul’s leading football clubs, has been barred from European football competitions for the 2012-13 season for financial irregularities. The ban handed out by UEFA was seen as the first serious sanction against Turkish football clubs, whose financial stability has since come under increasing scrutiny. Beşiktaş’s ban has led the club’s decision makers to curb transfer expenditure this summer. The club is embroiled in heavy debt, mostly due to its extravagant transfer spending in recent years. Among the expensive signings Beşiktaş made over the last two years are Portuguese stars Ricardo Quaresma, Simao Sabrosa and Hugo Almeida, as well as former Real Madrid player Guti.

Average expenditure

The average transfer expenditure per club in Turkey’s Super League dropped to 3 million euros this year, from 7.2 million euros last year.

Galatasaray, last year’s Super League champion, has so far spent the most this summer at 20.8 million euros. The club paid 8.6 million euros to transfer Nordin Amrabat from Kayserispor.

Galatasaray is followed by its arch rival Fenerbahçe in transfer expenditure. Fenerbahçe has paid some 10.8 million euros in transfers, which is almost one third of the budget the club allocated last year, when it spent a handsome 35 million euros. Fenerbahçe’s most expensive transfer has been Mehmet Topal, for whom the club paid 4.5 million euros.