5 managers with the highest transfer spending in the last decade

#3 Diego Simeone

Simeone has spent a lot of money on transfers since joining Atletico Madrid

Diego Simeone is another manager who has spent a lot of money on transfers in the last decade.

Simeone has established himself as one of the best managers in Europe during his time at Atletico Madrid. He helped Atletico break the duopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga in 2014, helping them achieve their first league title since 1996.

Simeone's team is known for playing tough defensive football showcasing sheer hard work and determination. The 51-year-old has built his Atletico team from scratch due to which he has spent a lot on transfers and hence finds himself a spot on our list.

The two seasons before Diego Simeone joined Atletico, they finished 9th and 7th. In his nine full seasons in charge, Atletico have never finished outside the top three, winning La Liga twice 🏆🏆👏 pic.twitter.com/JHjAFlmnNy

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 22, 2021

In the last decade or so, the Argentine manager has £879.94 million on transfers, signing 58 players and has managed to win eight titles during this time. He has signed players like Diego Costa, Alvaro Morata and Thomas Lemar, all of whom have cost a hefty sum.

But no signing was bigger than Joao Felix, for whom he spent a ludicrous sum of £113 million to bring the youngster to Wanda Metropolitano in 2019.

Simeone won his second La Liga title with Atletico Madrid last season, where they narrowly pipped their cross-town rivals to the trophy on the last day of the season.

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#2 Jose Mourinho

Mourinho has spent more thant £900 million on transfers in the last decade

Jose Mourinho is often described as one of the best managers in football history. The self-proclaimed 'Special One' has won titles in each and every country he has managed in, although his stock has somewhat fallen after underwhelming spells at Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Still Mourinho has tasted a lot of success in the past decade but that success has definitely come at a cost. The Portuguese manager has spent a whopping £959 million on transfers, signing 56 players during his time at Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, winning seven titles in the process.

Jose Mourinho has spent more on transfers than Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy during their time in the Premier League 😳 pic.twitter.com/Tj1h4EHHjb

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 21, 2019

However, his spending has not always lead to success. Five of his top six purchases were at Manchester United but ultimately failed to make it work for him. The likes of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Fred, Nemanja Matic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were all expensive purchases for United during the manager's tenure.

Mourinho was sacked in April by Tottenham Hotspur and is currently the man in charge at AS Roma in Serie A.

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#1 Pep Guardiola

Guardiola has crossed the £1 billion mark for money spent on transfers

Widely regarded as the best manager in European football, Pep Guardiola has dominated the footballing world with his possession and attacking based football.

The Spanish manager has won numerous accolades at all three clubs he has managed in the last decade. His Barcelona team in the 2010's were one of the best sides football has ever seen. He won 14 trophies during his time at Camp Nou before moving to Bayern Munich in 2013.

At Bayern, the manager won seven trophies in just three seasons before leaving for Manchester City in 2016. Since joining City, Guardiola has won the Premier League three times in five seasons and even finished with 100 points in one season during the 2017/18 campaign.

But amidst all this success, Guardiola has spent a lot of money on transfers and has even seen his expenditure cross the £1 billion mark in the last decade.

The former Barcelona manager has spent around £1.07 billion on transfers, signing 51 players while his expenditure at Manchester City alone is around £850 million in the last five years. However, Guardiola has been able to give a good account of his spending as the manager has won a whopping 21 trophies in the last decade.

Man City have spent over £650m since Pep Guardiola joined at the start of the 2016/17 season.Their 19-game winning streak is down to the club having 'a lot of money' according to the manager. 👀 pic.twitter.com/hQzEjTKo9r

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 25, 2021

It looks like though that the manager's transfer spending at Manchester City is not going to stop here as they are being linked with £100 million moves for Jack Grealish and Harry Kane this summer.