Costliest squads: Manchester City stands out

Issue number 308 of the Weekly Post presents the annual CIES Football Observatory analysis on the transfer fee expenditure to assemble the squad by big-5 league teams. As for 2019, Manchester City tops the table with an estimated 1.036 billion euro invested in transfer indemnities to sign their current players (including add-ons).

The figure recorded for Manchester City is €22M higher than that measured one year ago. While still inferior to that of their city rivals, the transfer expenditure to assemble the squad for Manchester United increased by €93M compared to September 2019: from €751 M to €844 M. With this increase, the Red Devils get closer to Paris St-Germain (€888 M, - €25 M) and overtake Real Madrid (€708M, - 194M). The biggest increase was recorded for Chelsea FC (€761M, +€198M).

Apart from Paris St-Germain and Real Madrid, only three other non-English teams are in the top 12: Barcelona (4th, €826M), Juventus (8th, €594M) and Atlético Madrid (11th, €483M). This finding confirms the financial supremacy of the Premier League. No team from this competition has invested less than €100 M in transfer indemnities to sign its current players. The European champions, Bayern Munich, only are 15th (€408M).

Transfer expenditure to assemble the squad (€ Million)

Big-5 league clubs

€ million
Club
League
1036
Manchester City
Premier League
888
Paris St-Germain
Ligue 1
844
Manchester United
Premier League
826
FC Barcelona
Liga
763
Chelsea FC
Premier League
708
Real Madrid
Liga
666
Liverpool FC
Premier League
594
Juventus FC
Serie A
590
Arsenal FC
Premier League
504
Everton FC
Premier League
483
Atlético Madrid
Liga
479
Tottenham Hotspur
Premier League
467
SSC Napoli
Serie A
439
Internazionale
Serie A
408
Bayern München
Bundesliga
370
Leicester City
Premier League
358
AS Monaco
Ligue 1
311
Borussia Dortmund
Bundesliga
303
AS Roma
Serie A
293
Wolverhampton FC
Premier League