Premier League top teams continue to cost far more to assemble than their European counterparts, with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea’s squads costing an astounding £2.5 billion combined.
Days after the summer transfer market closed, the CIES Football Observatory crunched the statistics and rated the teams in Europe’s “big five” divisions based on the transfer prices paid to put their squads together.
Unsurprisingly, English clubs dominated the list, with Manchester City topping the rankings with a roster costing £917 million, including prospective add-ons, thanks to the opulent amount of talent on offer to Pep Guardiola at the club.
The current Premier League champions are closely followed by Manchester United, a rival team whose roster cost £863 million to assemble.
With a total spending of about £2 billion during the most recent transfer window, Premier League clubs continued to exercise their financial muscles, with Chelsea rounding out the top three at £759 million.
Paris Saint-Germain, which has a squad worth £730 million and now occupies fourth in the European ranking outside of the Premier League, is certain that this sum will be sufficient to bring their Qatari owners’ long-desired European triumph.
Liverpool is still in fifth place, above the Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Despite having a reputation for being thrifty in the transfer market, the Reds currently spent £669 million on Jurgen Klopp’s talent.
The Spanish teams Real and Barcelona then follow.
The current Champions League champions, who spent £621 million, are in sixth place, followed by Barcelona, which has serious financial issues, in seventh place with $539 million.
Returning to the Premier League, Arsenal and Tottenham, two rivals from north London, claim the eighth and ninth spots with respective budgets of £460m and £447m.
Atletico Madrid rounds out the top 10 with a total expenditure of £432 million.
The two Manchester teams, who are now atop the standings, are the only clubs with spending in excess of one billion euros.
Even though this summer’s expenditure wasn’t as successful as previous ones, City nevertheless spent more than £100 million to bring in Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez, and Manuel Akanji.
However, United was the major window shopper. In Erik ten Hag’s final effort to restore the club to its former glory as a superpower, they spent more than £200 million on players including Casemiro, Antony, and Lisandro Martinez.
The most expensive player on City’s roster is England star Jack Grealish, who joined them from Aston Villa for £100 million in the summer of 2021. Kevin De Bruyne and Ruben Dias, two crucial players, cost £68 million and £61 million, respectively.
Following the departure of record-breaking signing Paul Pogba this summer, Antony has assumed the role as United’s most expensive player.
Jadon Sancho is the next most expensive at £76.5 million, closely followed by Harry Maguire at £80 million.
The most costly teams in Italy (Juventus) and Germany (Bayern Munich) do not even make the top 10.
For example, look at Sadio Mane this summer. Reigning Bundesliga winners Bayern are praised for their aptitude to sign elite players on free transfers.
However, the Bavarian club still spent £430m to assemble the impressive roster of talent at Julian Nagelsmann’s disposal, which places them in 11th place.
Juventus is now ranked 13th in Italy with a £407 million spending total. The $208 million that AC Milan spent to assemble their current team is arguably the most stunning accomplishment on this list.
Rafael Leao, Sandro Tonali, Theo Hernandez, and Fikayo Tomori are just a few of the fascinating young players that Milan has assembled since winning the Serie A championship last season.
