Manchester City and Manchester United have posted the highest transfer deficits in Europe over the last 10 transfer windows, new data displays – while Everton and Aston Villa have suffered bigger losses than both Chelsea and Arsenal.
New figures released by the CIES Football Observatory provided a snapshot of the huge cost of new talent from across Europe’s top five major leagues from the past 10 transfer windows – or from the 2016 summer window .
The data shows just how much consumption some clubs have and how some, like City and United, can find the best talent in the world without selling players to balance the books.
Manchester City and Manchester United have found out what Europe’s biggest transfer deficits are
| CLUB | LEAGUE | MONEY MONEY | MONEY MONEY | FULL EXPLANATION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Manchester | Premier League | £ 883m | £ 329m | – £ 554m |
| Manchester United | Premier League | £ 730m | £ 215m | – £ 515m |
| Barcelona | LaLiga | £ 1bn | £ 614m | – £ 413m |
| PSG | Ligue 1 | £ 748m | £ 349m | – £ 400m |
| Between Milan | Serie A. | £ 582m | £ 243m | – £ 338m |
| Everton | Premier League | £ 614m | £ 311m | – £ 303m |
| Aston Villa | Premier League | £ 356m | £ 59m | – £ 297m |
| AC Milan | Serie A. | £ 505m | £ 233m | – £ 272m |
| Chelsea | Premier League | £ 848m | £ 578m | – £ 270m |
| Arsenal | Premier League | £ 515m | £ 253m | – £ 262m |
He also outlined the Premier League’s leadership in terms of spending, with Leeds United newly encouraged to run a bigger bill than Real Madrid could.
In the City case, they were found to have spent just over £ 883million on new talent, including the likes of Ruben Dias, Ferran Torres, Rodri, Leroy Sane, John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Riyad Mahrez.
However, that, together with sales of £ 329m, means a deficit of £ 554m.
City’s huge financial support from their Abu-Dhabi holdings has transformed the club’s fortunes, turning them into regular Premier League and Champions League rivals.
But even with Pep Guardiola at the helm and the ability to throw big money at squad affairs, they have not been able to get over the line in Europe.
Their neighbors have spent almost as much on players at the same time as United making £ 730m. That includes contracts for the likes of Paul Pogba, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku, Nemanja Matic, Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Fred.
Barcelona (L) are third in the rounds with Paris Saint-Germain (R) fourth ahead of Inter Milan
United have recovered even less than City, however. The Red Devils have sold players for a total of £ 215m, giving them a total transfer market loss of £ 515m.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is starting to reap the benefits of their cost now but the club’s transfer strategy has changed in recent years to focus on younger talent while Mason Greenwood’s native star, Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay are the main players.
Barcelona comes in third on the standings with a deficit of £ 413m, another reminder of the real financial situation in which the Spanish giants are entering.
The Catalans have spent the highest amount on revenue (just over £ 1bn), signing the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele, Malcom, Arthur, Frenkie de Jong and Arturo Vidal but they has returned £ 614m to the club through sales.
Barcelona are in debt of around € 720m (£ 636m) and recent details of Lionel Messi ‘s £ 492m contract show the work they have done to reverse their financial turmoil.
Chelsea showered big in the summer for Frank Lampard, buying Timo Werner from RB Leipzig
Arsenal bring in Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid as Mikel Arteta looks to rebuild
It ‘s no surprise to see Paris Saint – Germain fourth in the record with a total deficit of £ 400m. They signed Neymar in a celestial move in 2017 and Kylian Mbappe 12 months later but the wealth of the Qatari owners means they don’t have to buy for sale.
Inter Milan (- £ 338m) are fifth in the standings but then, surprisingly, two of the teams outside the ‘Big Six’ of the Premier League are next. Everton (- £ 303m) is next after their big move in the transfer market a few quarters ago.
Ronald Koeman spent a great deal at Goodison Park in the summer of 2017 when Lukaku left for Manchester United and the Toffees have thrown the following windows trying to make amends.
Aston Villa, who were only promoted back to the Premier League at the start of the 2019-20 campaign, are next with a deficit of £ 297m but that is largely because they have received just £ 60m in transfer taxes in the last 10 windows.
Other position details from the list show that Everton and Villa have larger deficits than both Chelsea (- £ 270m) and Arsenal (- £ 262m).
Surprisingly, Leeds (R) have been picking up a bigger deficit than Real Madrid since 2016
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Premier League winners are Liverpool with a total deficit of £ 113m. That is great considering the success that Jurgen Klopp ‘s men have had over the last three seasons but perhaps explains the greater investment needed to keep up with the top clubs. Europe.
But perhaps the most striking figure is that there is a bigger deficit (- £ 100m) than in Leeds, which ended their Premier League exile last summer, Real Madrid (- £ 80m).
Real have significantly reduced their spending in recent seasons with the end of the Galactico era but the huge taxes they have brought into the club have raised the bank’s balance sheet.
No Premier League team managed to hold on to the time. The team with the lowest deficit was Southampton (- £ 43m), ahead of West Brom (- £ 64m) and Newcastle United (- £ 67M).
Some teams across Europe managed to post a good balance although the highest in Italy, Germany and Spain came from Atalanta (£ 116m), Hoffenheim (£ 76m) and Valencia (£ 58m).
Two French Ligue 1 clubs boast the best financial records in the transfer market, however. Lille posted a profit of £ 167m and Lyon were just behind by £ 132m.