There are many ways to define a club’s ambition. Perhaps the easiest is a straightforward look at which club spends the most money.
As the 2010s come to a close, we at The18 looked at which 18 clubs spent the most money over the last decade. No surprise, Manchester City is at the top having spent $1.71 billion. (Note: All numbers used in this article are from TransferMarkt.com.)
The Citizens bought 255 players for a total cost of $1.71 billion while selling 251 for $522.59 million, creating a total balance of $1.18 billion.
What did that buy the noisy neighbors? Four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, three League Cups and three Community Shields. Worth it? Probably, but that’s debatable.
On the flip side, Benfica actually made the most money this decade on transfers, bringing in an impressive $693.34 million in profits despite buying more players (368) than it sold (360). Benfica’s balance was twice as much as the next-best club, rival Porto ($378.42M). Rounding out the top five in profits were Ajax, Lille and RB Salzburg.
Of course, most of the top clubs were in the red when it comes to transfer balance. And that’s what we’re intersted in, which club spends the most. Nine clubs spent more than a billion dollars on players, and only one of the 18 teams on this list actually profited on player sales this decade (Monaco).
Every club that won a Champions League this decade was among the top 10 in spending with the exception of Bayern Munich (15th), making the German club’s dominance in the Bundesliga even more impressive (Borussia Dortmund was next highest at 19, just missing our list).
It’s interesting to note the variance in the number of players bought and sold. While Manchester City was about average with its arrivals and departures, Barcelona and Juventus showed two extremes. Barcelona bought just 127 players despite being No. 2 in expenditures; Juventus was No. 4 in expenditures but bought 543 players.
Here are the 18 clubs who spent the most money in the 2010s.
Which Club Spends The Most
(Clubs with the highest expenditures in the 2010s. Data from Transfermarkt.com.)
1. Manchester City — $1.71 billion
Players bought/sold: 255/251
Biggest transfer: Kevin De Bruyne, $84.18M (2015)
2. Barcelona — $1.52 billion
Players bought/sold: 127/120
Biggest transfer: Philippe Coutinho, $160.61M (2018)
3. Chelsea — $1.47 billion
Players bought/sold: 317/313
Biggest transfer: Kepa, $88.61M (2018)
4. Juventus — $1.44 billion
Players bought/sold: 543/535
Biggest transfer: Cristiano Ronaldo, $129.59M (2018)
5. PSG — $1.44 billion
Players bought/sold: 144/139
Biggest transfer: Neymar, $245.89M (2017)
6. Manchester United — $1.34 billion
Players bought/sold: 178/187
Biggest transfer: Paul Pogba, $116.3M (2016)
7. Real Madrid — $1.24 billion
Players bought/sold: 119/104
Biggest transfer: Gareth Bale, $111.87M (2013)
8. Atlético Madrid — $1.14 billion
Players bought/sold: 195/191
Biggest transfer: João Félix, $139.56M (2019)
9. Liverpool — $1.13 billion
Players bought/sold: 208/207
Biggest transfer: Virgil van Dijk, $93.76M (2017)
10. Inter Milan — $982.0 million
Players bought/sold: 522/518
Biggest transfer: Romelu Lukaku, $72M (2019)
11. Arsenal — $927.8 million
Players bought/sold: 187/193
Biggest transfer: Nicolas Pépé, $88.61M (2019)
12. AS Monaco — $918.1 million
Players bought/sold: 308/293
Biggest transfer: James Rodriguez, $49.84M (2013)
13. AS Roma — $910.7 million
Players bought/sold: 470/461
Biggest transfer: Leonardo Spinazzola, $32.67M (2019)
14. AC Milan — $908.0 million
Players bought/sold: 414/412
Biggest transfer: Leonardo Bonucci, $46.52M (2017)
15. Bayern Munich — $757.4 million
Players bought/sold: 86/86
Biggest transfer: Lucas Hernández, $88.61M (2019)
16. Napoli — $745.6 million
Players bought/sold: 374/351
Biggest transfer: Gonzalo Higuaín, $43.2M (2013)
17. Tottenham — $740.6 million
Players bought/sold: 206/216
Biggest transfer: Tanguy Ndombélé, $66.46M, (2019)
18. Everton — $731.4 million
Players bought/sold: 188/184
Biggest transfer: Gylfi Sigurdsson, $54.72M (2018)
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