Football has grown in popularity so much over the past few years that a club without a sustainable business model usually suffers in the long run. The amount of money poured into the game in Europe to deliver an exciting end product, especially the Premier League, has seen clubs and managers think long and hard about who they sign to complete their squad.
In the process, the transfer market has been inflated to reflect some grotesque amounts of money exchanging hands to sign such players. Capitalising on certain leagues getting record-high revenue from television broadcast deals has also become the norm.
So which club spent the most in the transfer market to assemble their squads?
#10 Liverpool: €356m
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After years of hiring the wrong man (in hindsight) as the manager, Liverpool seem to have finally got it right when they moved in on Jurgen Klopp when he was available last season. The smiles have returned to Anfield as a new era began after the appointment of the German manager.
Klopp was quick to discard the deadwood in the squad and replenish it with energetic signings who were hungry for success. With signings such as Sadio Mane (€41.2m) and Georginio Wijnaldum (€27.5m), Klopp has had a busy summer.
Combined with other big money signings made by his predecessors, such as Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana, Liverpool have the 10th costliest squad in Europe.
#9 Bayern Munich: €357m
The hegemony in the Bundesliga has seen Bayern Munich win the last four titles on the trot and no team has come close to ending the Bavarian club’s domination. Borussia Dortmund, the last club other than Bayern to win the title, has seen its players lured away to their rivals every other season and the rebuilding process never seems to end.
Bayern’s financial might has seen them sign players almost at will and they have assembled a squad capable of fighting on all fronts. With the highly experienced Carlo Ancelotti also roped in, they will look to win the Champions League again after their treble triumph in 2013.
Their most expensive signings include Javi Martinez (€40m), Arturo Vidal (€37m), Renato Sanches (€35m) and Mats Hummels (€35m). Add Douglas Costa and Manuel Neuer (€30m) in years gone by and Bayern have a squad that is formidable and has plenty of depth.
#8 Arsenal: €381m
Having been heavily in debt following their move to the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal were the smallest spenders in the transfer market among the top clubs in England and Europe. After signing new commercial deals in 2013 and also receiving huge chunks of TV revenue, they have started spending in the transfer market again and the habit of winning trophies is back.
Arsene Wenger may still be a bit too frugal when it comes to spending. But of late, he has opened his wallet to strengthen the squad and suddenly the Gunners have a complete squad capable of fighting for the league title.
Mesut Ozil became their most expensive signing in 2013 when he was signed for €47m. Over the next two seasons, Alexis Sanchez arrived from Barcelona for €42.5m while Petr Cech was signed for a nominal fee. This summer, Wenger spent big on Granit Xhaka (€45m) and Shkodran Mustafi (€41m) and the spine now looks complete.
Will Wenger sign off with a bang considering he is in the final year of his contract?
#7 Juventus: €395m
Juventus are yet another club who built their own stadium but they found tremendous success in the Italian Serie A as other teams around them failed to catch up. The Turin-based have won the last five league titles with almost no serious competition. AC Milan and Inter have fallen by the wayside while Napoli simply cannot sustain a title run.
The Old Lady have also spent quite a bit in the transfer market to build a squad capable of fighting it out in all competitions. Only the Champions League trophy remains elusive but they have made some incredible signings in recent years.
Their biggest signing was also a record signing as they bought Golden Boot winner Gonzalo Higuain for €90m from Napoli. His compatriot Paulo Dybala was signed last season from Palermo for €32m while the same amount was spent on Miralem Pjanic this summer. With the most expensive goalkeeper in Gianluigi Buffon also in the squad, Juventus have never shied away from spending money where they deem it fit.
#6 Paris Saint-Germain: €455m
Before the rise of PSG, France’s Ligue 1 was probably the most competitive league among the top five leagues in Europe. Between 2007 and 2012, the six seasons saw six different clubs winning the league.
Then came the Qatar Sports Investments in 2011 and the league title has never left Paris since the 2012/13 triumph. The group from the Middle East invested heavily to form a title-winning squad and domestic quadruples have now become the norm.
Edinson Cavani (€64.5m) remains their most expensive acquisition to date followed by Angel Di Maria (€63m). Add Javier Pastore (€42m), Thiago Silva (€42m), Lucas Moura (€40m) and Grzegorz Krychowiak (€33.6m) and you have a team that has been built by owners who aren’t here to mess around.
#5 Chelsea: €481m
Ever since Roman Abramovich arrived in the Premier League, the football landscape changed forever. A pioneer of pumping money into football clubs, the impatient Russian oligarch has never backed down from spending money to improve the squad and take some big decisions with respect to the hiring and firing of managers.
Eden Hazard may not be the club’s record signing but he remains the club’s most expensive player in the current squad at €40m. The signings of Michy Batshuayi (€39m) and David Luiz (€38.5m) this summer have seen Chelsea move up the list to fifth.
Add Diego Costa (€38m), N’Golo Kante (€35.8m), Willian (€35.5m) and Cesc Fabregas (€33m) and Antonio Conte has some decent players to make the Blues a force to reckon with in the league again. However, one gets the feeling he still needs to reinforce the squad with players he prefers – especially in defence.
#4 Barcelona: €485m
No club has won more Champions League titles in the last decade than Barcelona with four since 2006. While the club spends big on players, they are one of few clubs to have a had a rich balance of La Masia academy products and new signings in their title-winning squads.
They will have thanked their lucky stars that they never had to pay a hefty transfer fee for five-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi. But they have spent big on their other two South American stars. Neymar (€88.2m) and Luis Suarez (€81.7m) have arrived in recent years and the trio more popularly known as MSN were devastating in the 2014/15 season with a combined 122 goals and 66 assists.
Other expensive signings in the last two seasons include Andre Gomes (€35m), Arda Turan (€34m) and Paco Alcacer (€30m).
#3 Manchester City: €611m
Manchester City were one of many clubs to replicate Chelsea’s successful model and took it a step further by outspending their rivals every other summer. Taking the odd Financial Fair Play sanction on the chin, they have found ways around that with enough loopholes to keep UEFA at an arm’s length.
There was a time when Sergio Aguero (€40m) was their most expensive signing when he arrived in 2011. Now he isn’t even in the top five! Manuel Pellegrini and, now, Pep Guardiola have seen to that.
Kevin De Bruyne is currently their most expensive signing and the Belgian cost the club a whopping €74m to sign from Wolfsburg. Raheem Sterling (€62.5m), John Stones (€55.6m), Leroy Sane (€50m) and Nicolas Otamendi (€44.6m) are just a few of many players who arrived for big money.
The cost of City’s squad has increased by €78m since last season.
#2 Real Madrid: €634m
Of course, Real Madrid makes this list. No list would be complete without the Spanish club that lives and dies by the hefty transfer fee. Since 2000, Los Blancos always broke the transfer record themselves – until this summer.
Gareth Bale (€101m), Cristiano Ronaldo (€94m) and James Rodriguez (€75m) are their top three signings at the moment. While the capital club have struggled to stamp their authority in La Liga, they have managed to go all the way in Europe twice in the last three years. What made their continental conquests even sweeter was the fact that they beat derby rivals Atletico Madrid in the final on both occasions.
Other players in the squad who cost more than €30m include Karim Benzema (€35m), Danilo (€31.5m), Mateo Kovacic (€31m), Fabio Coentrao, Isco, Pepe, Alvaro Morata,Luka Modric and Toni Kroos (all €30m each).
The cost of Real’s squad has increased by €47m since last season.
#1 Manchester United: €718m
The undisputed financial giants of England, Manchester United have money to burn and still make massive profits every season thanks to their well-negotiated commercial deals. Banking on the success of Sir Alex Ferguson, the club signed numerous deals which have helped the club in the transfer market in spite of three years of flirting with the top four, qualifying for the Champions League only once.
This summer, they broke the world record and paid €105m to bring back Paul Pogba from Juventus as Jose Mourinho went about rebuilding the squad in his image. Anthony Martial was signed last year for €50m while Juan Mata (€44.7m) is the third most expensive player in the current squad.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (€42m) and Eric Bailly (€38m) were also signed this summer while other expensive signings over the years include Luke Shaw (€37.5m), Wayne Rooney (€37m), Ander Herrera (€36m) , Morgan Schneiderlin (€35m), Memphis Depay (€34m) and Marouane Fellaini (€32.4m).
No other club in the history of football has spent as much as Manchester United to build a squad. And the Red Devils spent €185m more than last season to strengthen the squad this season – in spite of signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic for free!
Data taken from TransferMarkt and CIES Football Observatory
