Manchester United top football’s worldwide 10-year spending table with a £1.19BILLION transfer outlay – £307m more than second-place Chelsea… But which European giants spent less than West Ham and Villa?!
Manchester United top the global spending table across the past decade, spending £1.19bn more than they have recoupled through player sales.
Since 2014, the Red Devils have spent £1.67bn on new players, while receiving £481m on sales, according to the CIES Football Observatory.
Notable transfers in that time include Paul Pogba for £89.5m in 2016, Harry Maguire for £80m in 2019 and Romelu Lukaku for £75m in 2017.
All three of those players, as well as other big-money signings such as Antony and Jadon Sancho, have struggled at Old Trafford with the Red Devils having no Premier League or Champions League success to show for the past decade.
Chelsea, who have won two league titles and a Champions League in that time, are second with a negative net spend of £883m – £307m down on the Red Devils.
Net spending per cub
1. Manchester United – £1.19bn
2. Chelsea – £883m
3. PSG – £866m
4. Arsenal – £745m
5. Man City – £732m
6. Newcastle £573m
7. Barcelona – £568m
8. Tottenham – £521m
9. AC Milan – £467m
10. West Ham – £452m
11. Aston Villa – £413m
12. Liverpool – £395m
13. Al Hilal – £392m
14. Juventus – £385m
15. Everton – £336m
16. Crystal Palace – £322m
17. Bournemouth – £294m
18. Bayern Munich – £294m
19. Real Madrid – £279m
20. Nottingham Forest – £265m
Mauricio Pochettino’s side also have have a negative balance of about £476m for 2023 alone, £166m ahead of the nearest club in that regard, which is Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal, who have signed the likes of Neymar, Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Over the past decade, Paris Saint-Germain are third with £866m, while Arsenal (£745m) and Manchester City (£732m) round out the top five.
Newcastle, despite only being bought out by a Saudi-led consortium in October 2021, are sixth on the list at £575m ahead of Barcelona £568m – who have suffered financially over recent years.
The top ten is rounded off by Tottenham (£521m), AC Milan £467m and, surprisingly, West Ham, with the Europa Conference League winners having a negative net spend of £452m.
Aston Villa are 11th with £413m, meaning both them and the Hammers are ahead of European heavyweights including Juventus (14th with £385m), Bayern Munich (18th on £294m) and Real Madrid – who have won five Champions Leagues in that time – in 19th on £278m.
Liverpool are a long way off their rivals Man United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City with a negative net spend of £395m despite being one of just three English teams to win the Premier League and Champions League over the past decade.
The financial power of the Premier League can also be outlined by the fact that Everton (£336m), Crystal Palace (£322m) and Bournemouth (£294m) are all ahead of Bayern Munich (£294m) and Real Madrid £279m) in the list, with Nottingham Forest – only promoted to the top-flight last year – rounding off the top 20 with £265m.
