The Premier League premium is £20m - and that worries European clubs
Premier League clubs are increasingly paying a 'premium' to sign players from other English teams rather than from abroad. Financial experts note that the volume of high-value domestic transfers has tripled in two years, raising concerns among European clubs about the league's spending power.
Why it matters
This trend reflects the massive financial disparity between the English Premier League and other European leagues, impacting global transfer market inflation.
Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Iliman Ndiaye (£65m), Savio (£75m) and Carlos Baleba (£70m) moved between English clubs for fees which could not be achieved outside the Premier League
Football issues correspondent Published 3 September 2026, 12:13 BST The old adage used to be that English players came at a premium. Now that appears to simply apply to a player already in the Premier League.
As English football set a host of new records for spending in the summer window, the average spend on a player signed from another Premier League club was £39.4m - almost double the £20.2m spent on those arriving from abroad.
Kieran Maguire, professor of football finance at the University of Liverpool , calls it "a Premier League tax".
It is part a growing trend which has seen Premier League teams become increasingly comfortable with selling to each other, even rivals.
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