East Mercato 2025: Arab Football Clubs Spend $1.2 Billion on Player Acquisitions

SadaNews - Arab football clubs spent approximately $1.185 billion on purchasing player contracts from abroad during 2025, marking a 77% annual growth, according to the "East Mercato 2025" report, which is the 12th in a series of economic sports reports.

The spending by Arab football clubs last year is the second highest in their history after 2023, when spending reached its peak at $1.236 billion.

$3.3 Billion Spent on Player Acquisitions Since 2021

Data collected by Asharq from official reports issued by the FIFA show that Arab football clubs have spent more than $3.3 billion over the last five years on acquiring players from abroad.

The last three years (2023-2024-2025) accounted for the largest portion of this figure, during which Arab clubs saw their highest spending on purchasing player contracts from abroad in their history.

Arab clubs resumed strong spending last year, following the decline that occurred in 2024, as Saudi clubs opened up to acquire top players from abroad, with notable activity from Qatari and Emirati clubs.

Saudi Clubs Lead in Spending

Saudi clubs have played the largest role in changing and growing the player transfer market since the opening initiated by the Kingdom in the summer of 2023 with the launch of the "Elite Player Recruitment" program, as their spending represented about 76.5% of the total amount spent by Arab clubs on acquiring players from abroad in 2025.

Saudi clubs' spending surged by approximately 95% last year, reaching $907 million, following a decline in the previous year with spending of $465 million, influenced by the investments made at the beginning of the project in 2023.

Qatari clubs ranked second by a significant margin, having spent $129 million, an increase of less than 8% from the previous year, which is their second highest figure after 2023 when they spent $220 million.

Record Spending by UAE and a Surge in Egypt and Morocco

UAE clubs, ranked third, recorded a new record in their spending on player acquisitions, having allocated around $107 million, an increase of 70% from 2024.

The transfer market in 2025 saw significant growth in Egypt and Morocco, although the figures are still far from what clubs spend in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. However, Egyptian clubs spent approximately $19 million, representing an increase of over 155% from the previous year, while Moroccan clubs witnessed a 175% growth after spending seven million dollars.

The six privatized Saudi clubs, namely "Al-Nassr", "Al-Hilal", "Al-Ahli", "Al-Qadsiah", "Neom", and "Al-Ittihad", topped the Arab Asian clubs in terms of spending on player acquisitions. In contrast, the African spending was led by the Egyptian trio "Al-Ahli", "Zamalek", and "Pyramids".

15% Growth in Transfer Activity

The movement of player transfers from abroad to Arab clubs experienced clear growth in 2025, reaching 15.2% year-on-year, as Arab clubs acquired 2660 players compared to 2309 in the previous year.

This figure represents about 25.2% of the total players acquired by Arab clubs in the last five years, which amounted to 10,570 players according to a census conducted by "Asharq".