After the 2016 summer transfer window slammed shut, people took a step back and were blown away by the amount of money that exchanged hands. Money that could probably have gone a long way in ending poverty and hunger in the world was used to buy and sell football’s most important ‘commodities’ – the players.
Ever since the advent of rich club owners threatened to destabilise the transfer market, UEFA have tried to adopt several measures to ensure clubs fell in line with sanctions placed on several teams in the Champions League. But various laws in several countries saw the implementation of such regulations a tough task and lawsuits did not make it easy.
“50% of clubs are losing money and this is an increasing trend,” Michel Platini had said at the time. “We needed to stop this downward spiral. They have spent more than they have earned in the past and haven't paid their debts. We don't want to kill or hurt the clubs; on the contrary, we want to help them in the market.”
More: Premier League clubs that broke their own record transfer fee this summer
Eventually, all the clubs fell in line but it did not stop owners from finding other sources of income. Ludicrous sponsorship deals became the new source of income. Naming rights and kit deals were signed for exorbitant amounts and the transfer fee ceiling continued to be raised in every window.
This summer alone saw the Premier League break the £1 billion barrier. Last year’s record stood at £870m. This summer’s spending blew it out of the water with a figure of £1,021,430,000!
Premier League clubs lead spending in transfer market
CIES Football Observatory released a list of the highest spending clubs and there is no surprise that, in the last few years, it is the Premier League clubs that have spent the most. The ever-increasing amounts received from renewed television deals have helped clubs fill up their treasury and the new deal worth more than £5 billion sees each club receive at least £100m.
Since 2010, it is Manchester City that have spent the most – an astronomic €1 billion has been spent on players ranging from Sergio Aguero to Kevin De Bruyne. The final total? €1,024 million!
The nouveau riche club are followed by another club who started it all – Chelsea. Owned by Roman Abramovich, the London club was bankrolled by the Russian oligarch and were one of the first clubs to invest heavily in a title-winning squad that changed the landscape of the Premier League.
Manchester United are in third place on the list. A club that has been built on former manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s success now finds money easy to come by with sponsors lining up to get their names associated with the EPL’s most successful club. Both Chelsea and United have spent upward of €840m since 2010.
The French Ligue 1 was a highly competitive league with five different clubs winning it in five years before Paris Saint-Germain entered the fray – and they are fourth on this list. With the Qatar Investment Authority handling the club’s finances, they, too, brought the best players to France and have since dominated the domestic scene with four consecutive league titles – including the most recent quadruple.
Fifth on the list is Barcelona, who have one of the finest academies in the world in La Masia. But they do not shy away from buying players to complement their products and it is this formula that has seen them win two trebles in recent years.
With a philosophy set in stone and world-class players in their squad, they have managed to become the most successful teams of the last decade with four Champions League titles between 2006 and 2015.
Here are the top 20 clubs that spent the most in the last few years. Among the top five leagues in Europe, six Premier League teams are present on the list followed by five clubs from the Italian Serie A.
| # | Club | League | Transfer Expenditure (€m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | Premier League | 1,024 |
| 2 | Chelsea | Premier League | 871 |
| 3 | Manchester United | Premier League | 841 |
| 4 | Paris Saint-Germain | Ligue 1 | 691 |
| 5 | Barcelona | La Liga | 680 |
| 6 | Liverpool | Premier League | 663 |
| 7 | Real Madrid | La Liga | 644 |
| 8 | Juventus | Serie A | 618 |
| 9 | AS Roma | Serie A | 535 |
| 10 | Inter Milan | Serie A | 517 |
| 11 | Atletico Madrid | La Liga | 516 |
| 12 | Arsenal | Premier League | 466 |
| 13 | Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League | 457 |
| 14 | Napoli | Serie A | 437 |
| 15 | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 435 |
| 16 | AS Monaco | Ligue 1 | 370 |
| 17 | VfL Wolfsburg | Bundesliga | 353 |
| 18 | Valencia | La Liga | 341 |
| 19 | Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | 340 |
| 20 | AC Milan | Serie A | 337 |
