A recent study has confirmed that Manchester United have been the biggest spenders in world football over the last decade.
In a list assembled by the CIES Football Observatory, the Red Devils sat at the summit of the net spend charts – followed by a number of Premier League sides.
In fact, the study showed that the English top-flight is by far the most lucrative league in terms of transfer spending – having splashed out a total of £19.1billion (€23.02bn) since 2015.
A large portion of that is down to just a handful of sides, with United’s total spending of £1.08billion (€1.3bn) the most out of any team in the world at that time period.
United spent over £200million alone in the summer after bringing in the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee to Old Trafford.
The summer prior to that, the Red Devils again splashed out as they bought Antony and Mason Mount. In that window, they spent a total of £168million (€202m) and made just £48million (€58m) – leading to their huge net spend.
A recent study has proved that Man United have been the biggest spenders in the last decade
Premier League rivals Chelsea follow closely behind having a net spend over one billion
French giants PSG are third having brought in the likes of Brazilian star Neymar in recent years
Followed closely behind the Red Devils, however, are Premier League rivals Chelsea – who have spent £1.07billion (€1.2bn) in the last decade.
Though Chelsea did spend a lot during the Roman Abramovich era, a large portion of that will have come since Todd Boehly’s arrival as co-owner back in 2022.
The rest of the top five in the Observatory’s list are French giants PSG and north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham.
The Parisian side – having bought the likes of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos in recent years – have a net spend of £825million (€991m).
Arsenal, meanwhile, have spent £661million (€795m) and local rivals Spurs, surprisingly, have splashed out £591million (€711m) since 2015.
Unfortunately for Ange Postecoglou – and more so Daniel Levy – their lucrative spending is yet to return a trophy.
Followed shortly after Spurs are Premier League champions Manchester City who have spent £585million (€703m) in the last 10 years.
It’s impressive that Pep Guardiola’s side have clinched the league title six out of the last seven years, given that four league rivals sit higher than them in the list.
Followed behind City are AC Milan, Newcastle, Barcelona and Saudi giants Al-Hilal.
Bayern Munich – despite signing Harry Kane for £100m – are only placed 14th on the list
Liverpool, meanwhile, surprisingly sit 17th despite splashing out £85million Darwin Nunez
Even Bournemouth sit ahead of the Reds. Pictured: Cherries summer signing Evanilson
They have spent £527million (€633m), £521million (€626m), £500m (€601m) and £462million (€556m) respectively.
Outside of the top ten, a number of other Premier League teams feature – including Arne Slot’s Liverpool who are surprisingly low on the list.
The Reds are 17th on the list with a net spend of £304million (€366m) in the last decade – which sees them fall below the likes of Bournemouth, Aston Villa and West Ham.
Comparatively, they have a net spend of £318million (€383m), £433million (€521m) and £456million (€548m).
European giants Juventus and Bayern Munich are sandwiched in between Villa and West Ham – with net spends of £437million (€526m) and £367million (€442m).
