The big-spending superpowers of world football splashed the cash to record levels this summer, but who has the most expensive squad?
Once known for their shrewd, under-the-radar dealings in the transfer market and eye for a bargain, Liverpool have changed their approach now, opting for the best players money can buy rather than filling out squad depth.
And that’s reflected in the CIES Football Observatory stats boffins’ rankings, with the Reds in top spot.
Liverpool’s squad spend has now reached a whopping £1.05billion and moves them up three places compared to last year, topping the table that Chelsea had led a season ago.
The eye-catching signing of Bradley Barcola for £123million from PSG was the major outlay in the summer transfer window, supplemented by deals for Victor Munoz (£35m) and young Genk goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans (£30m). .
Combined with last year’s major deals for Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, who are both yet to fully find their feet at Anfield, it is eye-watering expenditure.
Florian Wirtz (left) and Alexander Isak (right) are part of the most expensive squad in football
While Liverpool are top of the tree in terms of squad cost, other Premier League sides also make up the top six.
It’s hardly a surprise given the English top flight shattered the spending record by buying £3.56billion-worth of talent during the window.
In second spot is Manchester City, who have a squad value of marginally less than Andoni Iraola’s side at £1.04billion.
Tottenham’s major moves in the transfer market have seen them move up to third.
Spurs spent £320m on seven new players. Savio joined for £85m, Omar Marmoush has a £65m option, Mateus Fernandes was £85m, and Sandro Tonali a whopping £100m from Newcastle in addition to £52m for Jan Paul van Hecke.
Behind them are Chelsea, who fall three places from last year, while Manchester United and champions Arsenal are fifth and sixth respectively.
United spent £163m on new additions this summer, a relatively modest sum in comparison to years gone by, while the Gunners were unable to secure the big-money attacking player they craved.
Arsenal still managed to cough up £194m in total on the likes of Ezri Konsa, Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis.
| Ranking | Squad Value (£) | Club | League Movement | Transfer Spend (£M) | Spend Change (£M) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £1.05bn | Liverpool FC (ENG) | +3 pl | 252 | -254 | ||||
| 2 | £1.040bn | Manchester City (ENG) | = | 558 | -151 | ||||
| 3 | £1.013bn | Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) | +3 pl | 444 | -257 | ||||
| 4 | £1.003bn | Chelsea FC (ENG) | -3 pl | 298 | 192 | ||||
| 5 | £992m | Manchester United (ENG) | -2 pl | 165 | -108 | ||||
| 6 | £934m | Arsenal FC (ENG) | -1 pl | 165 | -37 | ||||
| 7 | £876m | Real Madrid (ESP) | +1 pl | 215 | -31 | ||||
| 8 | £785m | Paris St-Germain (FRA) | -1 pl | 144 | 207 | ||||
| 9 | £742m | Newcastle United (ENG) | = | 287 | -54 | ||||
| 10 | £538m | Aston Villa (ENG) | +8 pl | 343 | -48 | ||||
| 11 | £513m | Bayern Munchen (GER) | +3 pl | 100 | -31 | ||||
| 12 | £502m | Atletico Madrid (ESP) | -2 pl | 187 | -77 | ||||
| 13 | £483m | Juventus FC (ITA) | -2 pl | 121 | -88 | ||||
| 14 | £478m | Brighton & Hove (ENG) | +7 pl | 162 | 24 | ||||
| 15 | £467m | Bayer Leverkusen (GER) | +11 pl | 155 | -69 | ||||
| 16 | £460m | FC Barcelona (ESP) | -1 pl | 185 | -113 | ||||
| 17 | £458m | Al-Hilal SFC (KSA) | +2 pl | 264 | -287 | ||||
| 18 | £458m | Brentford FC (ENG) | +6 pl | 125 | -131 | ||||
| 19 | £428m | SSC Napoli (ITA) | -3 pl | 82 | -38 | ||||
| 20 | £415m | AFC Bournemouth (ENG) | +3 pl | 130 | -87 | ||||
| 21 | £397m | Nottingham Forest (ENG) | -8 pl | 130 | 7 | ||||
| 22 | £382m | AC Milan (ITA) | = | 199 | -165 | ||||
| 23 | £381m | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | -3 pl | 131 | -98 | ||||
| 24 | £368m | AC Milan | = | 220 | -150 | ||||
| 25 | £348m | Ipswich Town (ENG) | +33 pl | 219 | -226 | ||||
| 26 | £336m | Fulham FC (ENG) | +4 pl | 118 | -114 | ||||
| 27 | £326m | RB Leipzig (GER) | -10 pl | 93 | 45 | ||||
| 28 | £320m | Atalanta BC (ITA) | = | 93 | 13 | ||||
| 29 | £316m | FC Inter (ITA) | +4 pl | 103 | -76 | ||||
| 30 | £306m | Everton FC (ENG) | -5 pl | 80 | 21 | ||||
| 31 | £292m | Leeds United (ENG) | +5 pl | 119 | -99 | ||||
| 32 | £288m | West Ham United (ENG) | -20 pl | 99 | 168 | ||||
| 33 | £283m | Como 1907 (ITA) | +17 pl | 142 | -145 | ||||
| 34 | £273m | Al-Ahli SFC (KSA) | -3 pl | 95 | -106 | ||||
| 35 | £263m | Sunderland AFC (ENG) | +7 pl | 99 | -82 | ||||
| 36 | £258m | AS Roma (ITA) | -1 pl | 135 | -124 | ||||
| 37 | £255m | AS Monaco (FRA) | -5 pl | 49 | 96 | ||||
| 38 | £249m | Wolverhampton FC (ENG) | -11 pl | 33 | 98 | ||||
| 39 | £246m | Galatasaray SK (TUR) | +1 pl | 55 | -56 | ||||
| 40 | £226m | Sporting CP (POR) | +11 pl | 141 | 26 | ||||
| 41 | £221m | Fenerbahce SK (TUR) | +8 pl | 127 | -85 | ||||
| 42 | £216m | Al-Qadsiah FC (KSA) | +20 pl | 75 | -78 | ||||
| 43 | £213m | Al-Ittihad Club (KSA) | -9 pl | 62 | -18 | ||||
| 44 | £210m | SL Benfica (POR) | -1 pl | 80 | 6 | ||||
| 45 | £209m | Hull City AFC (ENG) | +141 pl | 183 | -192 | ||||
| 46 | £208m | ACF Fiorentina (ITA) | -2 pl | 159 | -80 | ||||
| 47 | £151m | Coventry City (ENG) | +56 pl | 151 | -171 |
Sandro Tonali cost Tottenham £100m and Spurs have outspent Real Madrid
Outside of the Premier League, it’s no surprise to see Real Madrid as the first foreign power on the list.
Jose Mourinho’s side have a total squad value of £875m, which is perhaps a surprise when factoring the level of talent at his disposal.
The Spanish side’s major signing of the summer was £120m on Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig and sees them leap ahead of PSG in the table.
The French side’s squad value of £784m places them one position above Newcastle.
While the Magpies lost a huge amount of talent, including the aforementioned Guimaraes and Tonali, they have also acted swiftly to rejuvenate the group under new boss Matias Jaissle.
Aston Villa slot in just below Newcastle in 10th spot having reinvested funds from the sale of Morgan Rogers, who joined Chelsea for £117m.
Bayern Munich then arrive at No 11 having spent £510m on their squad in total, closely followed by Atletico Madrid and Juventus.
Brighton, often lauded for their work in the transfer market have compiled a marginally cheaper group than the historic Italian club, with a total of £481m spent on their cohort.
Brighton signing Luka Vušković is part of a carefully constructed squad worth £481m
Also, the Seagulls are the only Premier League club with a positive net spend over the last ten transfer windows – coming out £28m up over that period.
Other clear illustrations of Premier League power include Ipswich moving up 33 places and boasting a squad assembled to the tune of £366m, only a couple of places behind Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan.
Even relegated West Ham have a more expensively assembled squad than Roma, Galatasaray and a number of Saudi sides.
Rounding out the list in terms of Premier League sides is Frank Lampard’s Coventry City, who have compiled a group totalling £207m and are bidding to survive the drop against the 19 big-spending rivals ahead of them on the list.
Source: Daily Mail
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