Chelsea, Man United most active on transfers this decade،
Have Chelsea and Manchester United made their transfer spending profitable? Do Real Madrid have to spend big to stay at the top in Europe? And what is Barcelona's transfer record?
In its latest statistical analysis of football finances, the CIES Football Observatory in Switzerland has looked through every transaction over the past decade to find out which clubs have been the most active. It looked at the combined inflows and outflows (i.e. “transfer volume”) over defined periods, as well as the net balance. The data covers this season, as well as combined figures from the last 10 seasons.
There are now 169 clubs from 24 countries whose cumulative transfer volume has exceeded the €100 million mark in the last five seasons alone. Clubs from Europe's biggest leagues are leading the way with 14 of them exceeding €1 billion in spending and one Premier League club in particular well over the €2 billion threshold.
After reviewing the CIES data tables, here are our key takeaways.
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Chelsea are in a league of their own
Given that they have completed two transfers worth over €100m since January 2023, it's no surprise to find Chelsea's transfer spending well ahead… having shelled out €846m of more than the second club on the list.
The Blues have spent €2.57 billion during this period with marquee contracts for players such as Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo, Romelu Lukaku, Wesley Fofana, Mykhailo Mudryk and Kai Havertz (all of whom are among the top 10 of the club's record signings) while also securing relatively big departures for the likes of Mason Mount and Havertz.
Chelsea's closest competitors in terms of transfer volume since the start of the 2019-20 campaign are Manchester City (€1.72 billion) and Paris Saint-Germain (€1.40 billion). And remember when Barcelona could spend big on transfers before their financial problems? They are fourth on the list with 1.33 billion euros.
Man United shows big spending doesn't guarantee success
When it comes to hemorrhaging money over a sustained period, it would seem no one does it better than Premier League clubs, with England's top flight providing seven of the ten worst transfer balances over the last five and ten seasons .
It is Chelsea who are once again “top” of the list over the last five seasons with a negative transfer volume balance of -€782 million, narrowly ahead of rival Manchester United (-€773 million). euros) in second place. At least the Blues can celebrate their Champions League victory during this period.
However, these two clubs swap positions when the scope is extended to a 10-season overview, with United coming out on top with a combined balance of -€1.34 billion, eclipsing Chelsea's respective total (-1. 04 billion euros).
The Red Devils have parted with exorbitant amounts in transfer fees during this decade, but have still failed to win a single major title, either domestically or Europeanly.
At least Chelsea have won the Premier League twice and the Champions League once… Man United have nothing – and we're not counting the FA Cup or Europa League.
Heavy spending with limited results linked to the signing of players like Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho, Antony, Ángel Di María, Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku showed a distinctly poor transfer policy at Old Trafford.
The duo are also the only two clubs to have fallen below negative net transfer spending of over -€100 billion over the decade, with PSG in third place with a cumulative total of -€959 million. euros.
Real Madrid shows you don't have to spend big money all the time
Once known for their extravagance Galactic When it comes to transfers, it seems that Real Madrid now know that spending wisely is the key to success.
The Spanish giants are just inside the top 10 in terms of total transfer volume over the last five seasons, having spent “only” €1.20 billion on players and only two players arriving since 2019-20 for transactions worth more than 80 million euros (Aurélien Tchouaméni and Jude Bellingham.) In the last five seasons, Real Madrid have won two La Liga titles and the Champions League.
Of course, you can also just wait and sign a world star like Kylian Mbappé on a free transfer!
To put this into context, relative lightweights Tottenham Hotspur, Ajax Amsterdam and Benfica have all spent more money on transfers during this period.
Rivals Barcelona are the fourth biggest spending club in the world over the last five seasons (€1.333 billion), behind Chelsea, Man City and PSG – which perhaps partly explains their financial quagmire – and they don't They only have last season's league success to prove it.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have also shown their aptitude for bargains. Over the last 10 years, they are only 23rd in the list of transfer volumes (€880 million) with a net transfer deficit of -€281 million. Remarkably, Nottingham Forest (-€311m) had a greater net spend than Jurgen Klopp's men over the period.
Europe's savviest dealers
Despite both outspending Real Madrid over the past five seasons, Ajax and Benfica have managed to make the most of their combined transfer activity, with both clubs also generating the highest profits overall. during this period.
Benfica tops the list with a transfer volume of 1.223 billion euros, but still leaves 354 million euros in the black, largely thanks to striking huge deals with players like João Félix, Enzo Fernandez, Darwin Núñez and Rúben Dias.
Ajax are just behind, with an expenditure of 1.216 billion euros for a net profit of 349 million euros, boosted by the lucrative departures of Antony, Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Lisandro Martínez, Donny van de Beek and Hakim Ziyech.
In fact, nine of the Dutch club's ten highest transfer departures have occurred since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Saudi clubs have climbed into the “top 10” this season
Taking the 2023-24 season in isolation, two English clubs top the CIES list for the best positive transfer records. Southampton (€167 million) show interest in signing players after relegation, with Wolves (€135 million) joining Villarreal (€109 million) as the only clubs to have earned more than €100 million euros over the last two transfer windows.
At the other end of the spectrum, no fewer than four Saudi Pro League clubs made it into the top 11 for biggest net losses. And Al Hilal (-€384m) recorded a bigger deficit than any other team in the world this season, despite spending just €456m on transfers in total over the last five seasons.
PSG are second in 2023-24 with a negative transfer balance of -€204m this season, while Al Ahli (-€198m) beat Newcastle United (-€175m) into third place.
The Premier League is well represented with Chelsea (-€170m), Arsenal (-€147m), Manchester United (-€143m) and struggling Burnley (-€126m) all managing to make their respective way in the “top” 10 of the ranking. net transfer losses.
They sit alongside Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr (-€162m), and Saudi cohorts Al Ittihad (-€125m) have also propelled themselves into the equation after both significantly increasing their transfer spending in recent months.
Barcelona's transfer restrictions are laid bare, with a net transfer deficit of just -€9m in 2023-24.
