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Managers play a central role in the success of any football team. Having a manager who is the right fit for a team is essential to bringing out the best in players and maximizing their chances of winning titles.
Each manager has his own philosophy and style of play. For a manager's plans to work out to perfection, he needs players who can execute his ideas faultlessly on the pitch. That's where the high-profile coaches in football luck out.
Top clubs have plenty of money that they are willing to splash to bolster their squads. The more successful the manager, the more keen the club will be to back him in the transfer market.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the five managers who have spent the most amount of money on transfers.
#5 Antonio Conte - €956.9 million
Antonio Conte is one of the most successful managers of the modern era. He is very insistent on having the right profile of players at every club he manages and is quite stubborn about wanting to be backed in the transfer window.
Conte has now met his match in Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy, who has a reputation for being quite stingy. Some of Conte's most expensive signings in recent times have been Alvaro Morata at Chelsea (€66 million) and Romelu Lukaku at Inter Milan (€74 million).
He signed young right-back Achraf Hakimi at Inter Milan in 2020 for €43 million. Chelsea signings like Tiemoue Bakayoko, Michy Batshuayi, Danny Drinkwater, N'Golo Kante, David Luiz and Antonio Rudiger were all done during Conte's reign.
#4 Diego Simeone - €980.3 million
Much is made of Diego Simeone's 'underdog' Atletico Madrid side, who have to go toe-to-toe with the big-spending La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona. People tend to overlook the fact that he's spent almost a billion Euros on transfers in his managerial career.
Yes, Atletico Madrid's transformation into a superpower was facilitated by a steady and lavish cash flow. Take nothing away from Simeone though. He has indeed done a fantastic job and the transfer spending is a fair reflection of the inflated transfer market valuations as well.
At €127.2 million, Joao Felix is Simone's most expensive signing of all time. He has also signed Thomas Lemar for €72 million, Diego Costa for €60 million and Antoine Griezmann for €54 million.
#3 Massimiliano Allegri - €994.4 million
Massimiliano Allegri played a huge role in making Juventus one of the most dominant European sides in the last decade. The Bianconeri are often lauded for their ability to secure the best deals in the free agent market. But that doesn't mean they've shied away from splashing the cash either.
During Allegri's first managerial stint from 2014 to 2019, Juventus spent a fortune on bringing high-profile players to Turin. Cristiano Ronaldo is Allegri's most expensive signing of all time, having cost Juvents €117 million in 2018.
Allegri also signed Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli for €90 million. Paulo Dybala (€41 million), Joao Cancelo (€40.4 million), Federico Bernardeschi (€40 million) and Douglas Costa (€40 million) are a few of his other expensive signings.
#2 Jose Mourinho - €1.07 billion
The 'Special One' produced magic with Porto in 2004, delivering an unlikely Champions League title to the underdog side. But since then, Mourinho has worked for some of the biggest clubs in Europe whose purse strings have never been pulled too tight.
Mourinho can be a bit tough to work with when things don't go his way. Given the amount of success he has enjoyed over the course of his managerial career, clubs usually trust him to make the right decisions in the transfer market.
Mourinho's pulling power has been quite extraordinary and many of the biggest stars in the footballing world have always been excited to work with him. At €105 million, Paul Pogba is Mourinho's most expensive signing.
During his time with Manchester United, the Portuguese coach also roped in big-money signings like Romelu Lukaku (€84.7 million), Fred (€59 million) and Nemanja Matic (€44.7 million). During his first stint at Chelsea, Mourinho signed Andriy Shevchenko for €43.88 million, which was quite a huge sum at the time.
#1 Pep Guardiola - €1.38 billion
Nobody even comes close to Pep Guardiola when it comes to transfer spending. True, he has been able to assemble some of the most dominant teams in Europe over the past decade and a half. But the fact that those fat cheques have played a huge role in that cannot be overlooked.
Guardiola has spent a whopping €1.38 billion in transfers so far. Jack Grealish, roped in for €117.5 million from Aston Villa last summer, is Guardiola's most expensive signing. His second most expensive signing was Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Barcelona from Inter Milan in 2009 for a whopping €69.5 million.
Ruben Dias (€68 million), Riyad Mahrez (67.8 million), Aymeric Laporte (€65 million), Joao Cancelo (65 million) and Rodri (€62.7 million) are some of the other very costly purchases.
In addition to them, Benjamin Mendy, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva were all signed by Manchester City for sums in excess of €50 million.
