European football's governing body, UEFA, has raised the alarm over what it describes as "a clear two-speed system" taking hold in the transfer market, driven by the extraordinary spending power of Premier League clubs.

The warning came in UEFA's latest European club talent and competition landscape report, which found that Premier League clubs spent an estimated €4.6bn this summer — a figure larger than the combined transfer outlay of the next eight biggest spending nations in Europe.

A growing gulf in purchasing power

Andrea Traverso, UEFA's executive director of finance, made clear that the scale of English football's dominance is causing serious concern at the governing body's highest levels.

"Transfer values continue to rise sharply, particularly in the English market, increasing future pressure on club financial results," Traverso wrote in the report. "These developments also point to an increasing concentration of talent and a growing polarisation of the market."

English clubs were involved in more than 60% of European transfer deals, paying an average of around €24m per incoming player. By contrast, clubs in other major European leagues paid between €4m and €5m per player on average — a stark illustration of the widening spending gap.

Traverso also cautioned that any "correction in transfer values" or "slowdown in buyer demand" could carry serious financial consequences for clubs already carrying debt.

Domestic deals and academy profits surge

The report revealed that Premier League clubs' total transfer spend this summer equates to 56% of their annual revenue — significantly above the 33% average recorded during the decade before Covid-19.

Transfers between Premier League clubs themselves rose by 44%, reaching €1.55bn — a domestic market that UEFA described as being "as large in fee value as the next five market flows combined." The next biggest cross-league flow was from the Bundesliga to the Premier League, totalling €690m.

The number of European transfer fees exceeding €50m has climbed sharply: from 14 in the summer of 2024 to 23 in 2025, and then to 35 in 2026. Premier League clubs accounted for 29 of those 35 deals.

Clubs across Europe generated an estimated €6.8bn in profit from academy player sales over the summer — an increase of €655m on the previous year — as financial regulations push clubs to seek balance-sheet-friendly revenues.

Multi-club ownership findings

UEFA's report found little evidence that clubs using multi-club ownership structures are manipulating transfer fees. Total fees in such deals reached €152m, against an estimated market value of €159m — suggesting broadly fair valuations. More than half of that activity involved transfers between Chelsea and Strasbourg.