'Net transfer spend' is a phrase often thrown into arguments when the biggest-spending clubs are discussed – and the list of the 50 highest net spenders over the past decade is an extremely revealing one.
Value for money and the transfer market are not things that usually mix, particularly in modern football.
And, with more and more owners chasing the Champions League dream, price tags have been significantly inflated, with the number of flops also increasing exponentially.
It'll be no surprise to many that the two Manchester clubs have the highest net spend in the world over the past decade. But, while City have established themselves as England's dominant force, rivals United have lurched from one disaster to the next.
Arsenal are surprisingly high, although their habit of spending big and releasing players for free under Mikel Arteta comes into play here.
The presence of PSG, Barcelona and Juventus in the upper echelons is also revealing, with each club guilty of splurging on unfulfilling signings over the last 10 years.
English clubs dominate this list; West Ham are above Inter Milan, Leeds outrank Real Madrid while West Brom nestle in ahead of Atletico Madrid and Roma. These placings are a sign of the times.
But there's also an interesting influx of non-European clubs, especially from China. Shanghai Port have the 24th highest net transfer spend since 2012 and there are a further six Chinese sides in our list.
The presence of big-spending Mexican, Russian and Saudi Arabian sides gives our ranking an exotic flavour, although each country has a track record in importing expensive foreign signings.
Check out our full top 50 ranking below, with the numbers coming courtesy of Transfermarkt.
1. Manchester City – £948.19million
2. Manchester United – £914.52million
3. PSG – £767.39million
4. Arsenal – £548.28million
5. Barcelona – £472.88million
6. Juventus – £467.6million
7. AC Milan – £415.76million
8. Chelsea – £388.35million
9. Liverpool – £340.64million
10. Bayern Munich – £388.58million
11. West Ham United – £331.68million
12. Aston Villa – £320.29million
13. Everton – £300.22million
14. Newcastle United – £291.03million
15. Inter Milan – £250.59million
16. Tottenham – £235.11million
17. Wolves – £209.57million
18. Leicester City – £205.20million
19. Zenit St Petersburg – £202.68million
20. Crystal Palace – £196.89million
21. Brighton – £191.59million
22. Wolfsburg – £182.96million
23. Napoli – £178.49million
24. Shanghai Port – £176.29million
25. Leipzig – £172.23million
26. Fulham – £161.59million
27. Guangzhou FC – £155.29million
28. Hebei FC – £148.15million
29. Beijing Guoan – £134.11million
30. Leeds United – £134.06million
31. Real Madrid – £131.4million
32. Parma – £130.96million
33. Stoke City – £128.72million
34. Jiangsu FC – £127.3million
35. Al-Nassr Riad – £118.36million
36. Spartak Moscow – £109.08million
37. Galatasaray – £108.36million
38. West Brom – £104.34million
39. Tianjin Tianhai – £103.92million
40. Atletico Madrid – £101.88million
41. Marseille – £101.79million
42. Shanghai Shenhua – £101.08million
43. Dynamo Moscow – £96.9million
44. Watford – £96.29million
45. Cruz Azul – £89.62million
46. Al-Ittihad Jeddah – £87.63million
47. Roma – £87.28million
48. Lokomotiv Moscow – £86.18million
49. Krasnodar – £85.85million
50. Sheffield United – £84.21million
nutmegprince
0
Big ups to clubs like Benfica, Dortmund and Monaco who are not on this list cos they know how to make profits off player sales
nutmegprince
0
Wait how did RM get so low on the rankings when they spent so much….Bail…..Hazard 200mil and that list can go on
They sold well to balance their books, Ronaldo, Hakimi, Reguillion, odegaard and others were good sales
nutmegprince
0
We’re fourth on this list cos we don’t know how to sell players, letting contracts run down and selling players for peanuts
nutmegprince
0
This'll lies why real madrid not top 10?
It’s net spending bro, meaning if you buy players worth £1billion and sell other players worth £1billion ur net spend is 0£
danoni31
0
NETT SPENDING !!!!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT NETT SPENDING MEANS ????
They are not on the list because they make more profit from sales which make excess funds available for them even after buying players. Do I still need to explain this to you in 2022?🙄
dapacilpr
0
This'll lies why real madrid not top 10?
Kunlespur2
0
Has man u been buying firewood or something
They’ve been buying deadwoods 😂😂
FootballRealist
0
Wait how did RM get so low on the rankings when they spent so much….Bail…..Hazard 200mil and that list can go on
Andile1986
0
Oga shut up, fool like you no dey here
it's a lie
Pouadekptu
5
Has man u been buying firewood or something
Nakaemsuyz
1
Arsenal back to No. 4 spot. That’s the gold spot
Nakaemsuyz
0
This is not credible... Real Madrid has spent more than 131million. Barca has also spent over 500 million. Chelsea has spent over 600 million. etc, etc, A.F pls do more proper research on this article...
Net spending = total buy - total sales
Nakaemsuyz
0
That’s not true information and if all football does be careful with their news I definitely uninstall their app from in my phone. How would they be lying like this by saying that only 131. 14 had been by Real Madrid where in they bought none less than 50million, bale 100 million and hazard 100 million again not about Vinicius and other players
Brother it’s net spending- ie gross spending less player sales proceeds. Hope you got it now.
Zambri_81
0
sign those lagend back...they game play more entertain
Soykmnstu
1
That’s not true information and if all football does be careful with their news I definitely uninstall their app from in my phone. How would they be lying like this by saying that only 131. 14 had been by Real Madrid where in they bought none less than 50million, bale 100 million and hazard 100 million again not about Vinicius and other players
Tpam101
0
And yet ManU fans kept condemning the Grazers for not doing enough for the club🤣🤣... What a bunch of Douche
U don’t know what’s going on in the team.
Tpam101
0
Why does Man U pics always have to be ok everything all football talks about🤦🏾♂️
hardcoreGooners
0
Wondered why Borussia Dortmund is not on this list? If you don't gerrit, forget abourit😊😊😊
[image]
NETT SPENDING !!!!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT NETT SPENDING MEANS ????
hardcoreGooners
0
city net spend is over 1billion and United net spend is also over 1 billion all this is a lie
NETT Spending !!!!! Do you even know WHAT NETT SPENDING means ????
hardcoreGooners
0
lol what grass are you smoking . net spend money comming in minus money comming out and you'll get net spend include winnings sponsership deals, tv rights etc
cow grass it seems...🤣🤣🤣
hardcoreGooners
0
And yet ManU fans kept condemning the Grazers for not doing enough for the club🤣🤣... What a bunch of Douche
yudacdnosz
1
Chinese teams leading the ways in terms of clubs in the same country.
danoni31
0
No reasonable person will believe in this article.
no reasonable person will understand this article
dieilmopsu
4
All football well done
danoni31
0
only hazard is £115 million so that Madrid £131 is a lie, only lukaku is £105 million, kepa £82 million, havert £85 million, Mendy £33 million, chiwel £52 million, kante £35 million, morata £75 million, drinkwater £45 million and many others so Chelsea £300 + spend is a lie, Liverpool is also a lie and so many other so this post is all a lie, Barca dembele 140, countiho 140, griezman 120, de jong 60, tores 55 and many other
comprehension is a big problem here. This is *net* spending for God sake.....I.e expense minus sales on players🙄
danoni31
1
Wondered why Borussia Dortmund is not on this list? If you don't gerrit, forget abourit😊😊😊
danoni31
0
Real Madrid comes 31st on spending yet had the most success winning 4 champions league titles..hala Madrid
it is net spending....I.e expense minus income on sales of players
gupta_hiteshcr7
0
i know what net spend is but you guys didn't sell that much player most of that money was from cr7 100m sale
didn't barca sell neymar for a world record fee? still they have a high net spend. see the proportions also my man. madrid didn't sign any out of proportion signing. barca bought dembele, Coutinho for a combiwn fees of alamot that of neymar. net spend it this case will not be more than 50m. see the proportions
Raeacopu
1
They said "NET" expenditure, get what they spent, subtract from what they earned, that's the net.
Respect
Salim07
3
Oh my Real Madrid
DeejayTi
0
They said "NET" expenditure, get what they spent, subtract from what they earned, that's the net.
bro, it's still ambiguous.
Davidchris1999
3
This is not credible... Real Madrid has spent more than 131million. Barca has also spent over 500 million. Chelsea has spent over 600 million. etc, etc, A.F pls do more proper research on this article...
They said "NET" expenditure, get what they spent, subtract from what they earned, that's the net.
NeilOberholzerjwjje
0
only if you would have googled the meaning of net spend. net spend means expenses on transfer minus income from transfers. madrid have sold morata, ronaldo, di maria, ozil, hakimi, reguilion and many others for a considerable fees.
i know what net spend is but you guys didn't sell that much player most of that money was from cr7 100m sale
Omar Mhairat
7
Real Madrid comes 31st on spending yet had the most success winning 4 champions league titles..hala Madrid
DeejayTi
4
This is not credible... Real Madrid has spent more than 131million. Barca has also spent over 500 million. Chelsea has spent over 600 million. etc, etc, A.F pls do more proper research on this article...
zocdemps
0
😅😅 You Won’t Found Real Madrid??! look at 31 Number 😉
MkonoJr
2
Mbona sijaiona Simba ? mnatutania sio
Collibsodinaka
2
No reasonable person will believe in this article.
Santoshjji
0
man united supposed to be first because they are only spending no income
[image]
they have bigger fanbase they used the money that was gain from club and not from rich owner
willieosman8
3
real Madrid teaching the big clubs how it's done
Andile1986
0
only hazard is £115 million so that Madrid £131 is a lie, only lukaku is £105 million, kepa £82 million, havert £85 million, Mendy £33 million, chiwel £52 million, kante £35 million, morata £75 million, drinkwater £45 million and many others so Chelsea £300 + spend is a lie, Liverpool is also a lie and so many other so this post is all a lie, Barca dembele 140, countiho 140, griezman 120, de jong 60, tores 55 and many other
lol what grass are you smoking . net spend money comming in minus money comming out and you'll get net spend include winnings sponsership deals, tv rights etc
Semcprsu
2
man united supposed to be first because they are only spending no income
rezruz
3
Ajax not in this list, they must be on top of list of smartest football brains since 2012👏👏 Financial Fair Play is a joke!
tocblmorty
1
Which one of them can compare with Madrid in terms of achievement within the period under review. Man U has been buying the wrong players over the years. Hala Madrid
Mohan__P
1
so .. if bartomeu didn't but Coutinho,dembele and Griezman... Barcelona would have not featured in the list. same goes for real Madrid... without hazard.. they would have been out of the list too
Yiaansy
0
Isn't 340 less than 388 so how comes liverpool is 9th and bayern 10th. As usual AF does what no one else does.
Willboy123
0
only hazard is £115 million so that Madrid £131 is a lie, only lukaku is £105 million, kepa £82 million, havert £85 million, Mendy £33 million, chiwel £52 million, kante £35 million, morata £75 million, drinkwater £45 million and many others so Chelsea £300 + spend is a lie, Liverpool is also a lie and so many other so this post is all a lie, Barca dembele 140, countiho 140, griezman 120, de jong 60, tores 55 and many other
jezaclu go and learn what net spending means bro
bamcekmrsz
0
Real Madrid positioned 31!😝
kenemnprsy
1
what a joke...psg spend the most just think what mbappe, neymar and messi are getting paid lol and that's only their top 3 guys. Qatar has attempted to rob and steal football and are succeeding we just hope they never win a champions league
tobdeknsyz
0
so upon everything Barcelona spend,na this small thing the Carry. I am speechless 🤧🤧
[image]
bro, with all the money spend . trophies will reach like 30 or 40