International transfer fees from Australian clubs for men's footballers almost tripled across 2023-2024 to approximately $17.5 million, according to a Football Australia (FA) report.
Fees increased from $6.27 million to $17.45 million across the fiscal year while 74 per cent of total fees paid, or $12.9 million, were for players aged between 18 and 23 - more than triple the $4.05 million in 2022-23.
A-League Men champions Central Coast alone sold seven players internationally in the period between July 1 2023 and June 30 2024 while Adelaide United sold five.
According to FA, almost 50 per cent of the total men's revenue came from just five transfers, headlined by Joe Gauci’s record move from Adelaide to Premier League club Aston Villa and Marco Tilio’s sale from Melbourne City to Celtic.
Former Mariners defender Nectarios Triantis’ move to Sunderland, Craig Goodwin’s transfer from Adelaide to Saudi side Al-Wehdah and City captain Aziz Behich’s short loan deal to Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr were also in the top five.
"The A-Leagues is proud of the tremendous growth of transfer fees generated across the A-League Women and A-League Men, which highlights the quality and the increased appeal for the footballers across our leagues," A-Leagues commissioner Nick Garcia said in a statement.
"We will continue to work with the Australian football pyramid through domestic transfers to ensure as many young players are getting as many A-Leagues match minutes as possible to set them up for that journey and ensure the A-Leagues continues to be the place to watch the domestic stars of today and the global stars of tomorrow.”
Transfers like Nestory Irankunda's move to Bayern Munich and Alex Paulsen's sale from Wellington to Bournemouth fell outside the date range and will be in next year's report.
The women's game continues to be dominated by free transfers.
But Melbourne City secured fees from Bay FC and San Diego wave for Canadian goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx, a record, and Matildas full-back Kaitlyn Torpey respectively, while Paris FC paid up for Sydney FC young gun Sarah Hunter.
In total, there was a 46 per cent increase in international professional transfers and a 200 per cent rise in transfer fees for female players.
FA chief executive James Johnson said the results underlined the body's belief a modern domestic transfer system would "invigorate and drive the domestic football economy".
"Our role has been to create an environment where clubs are incentivised to invest in the training and development of players, and it’s been pleasing to see clubs across the country, particularly in the A-Leagues, embracing these reforms," Johnson said in a statement.
"Their hard work has delivered real rewards for clubs and our national teams alike."
The ALM mid-season transfer window opens on January 16.
