Although a section of Manchester United fans are furious at the Glazers for a number of reasons including what they feel is inadequate funding, the club has spent more than a billion Euros on player recruitment since 2014.
According to a study by the CIES Football Observatory report, Manchester United are one of three clubs (the others being Chelsea and Paris St-Germain) to spend more than €1 billion on transfers since 2014 but have recouped almost nothing from those big signings in transfer fees when they leave the club.
CIES’ report looked at the 100 most active football clubs in the last decade in terms of net transfer spending (incomings minus outgoings) and it shows that Manchester United have emerged as the club with the biggest negative balance.
With the Premier League regarded as the richest league in the world due to the high transfer fees the league pays, seven Premier League clubs make the top 10 CIES list of clubs that have made the biggest transfer loss in the last decade.
The CIES figures include full, fixed transfer fees clubs paid upfront plus any further add-ons whether they have been paid or not. Also factored in are any fees paid as part of loan deals and fees included in those loan deals as an “obligation to buy” clause.
Here are the worst performers.
Manchester United
Since 2014, Manchester United have amassed the largest negative transfer spend of any top club in world football with a whopping balance of -€1.4 billion. The club have splashed big cash on players like Paul Pogba (€105m), Romelu Lukaku (€84m) and Ángel Di María (€75m), all of whom left for way less than that.
Chelsea and PSG
In the same period, Chelsea and PSG have also spent loads of money on transfers resulting in losses of €1.033 billion and €1.01 billion respectively.
Chelsea were spending much during the Roman Abramovic period but their spending has gone up a notch since Todd Boehley took over in 2022. This summer, the club swept away several players but they couldn’t get more from them in transfer fees than what they paid them for while bringing them to the club.
PSG’s case is almost the same. The signing of Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappe hugely contributed to this transfer loss, as well as other stars like Di Maria, and Edinson Cavani who fetched the French club little to nothing on their departure.
Here’s the list of the top 10 clubs with the biggest transfer loss (negative net spend) since 2014.
Manchester United (ENG) – €-1.39bn
Chelsea FC (ENG) – €-1.033bn
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) – €-1.01bn
Arsenal FC (ENG) – €-872m
Manchester City (ENG) – €-856m
Newcastle United (ENG) – €-671m
FC Barcelona (ESP) – €-663m
Tottenham Hotspur (ENG) – €-609m
AC Milan (ITA) – €-545m
West Ham United (ENG) – €-526m
The best performers
The CIES report also listed clubs that have done good business in the same period, and Portuguese clubs have come up on top. Benfica, Sporting CP and FC Porto have benefited greatly from selling their high-profile players to especially high-paying Premier League and Spanish La Liga clubs.
Here are the 10 clubs that have made the highest profits (positive net spend) in the last decade.
Benfica (POR) – €764m
Ajax (NED) – €434m
FC Salzburg (AUT) – €422m
AS Monaco (FRA) – €402m
Sporting CP (POR) – €376m
FC Porto (POR) – €352m
LOSC Lille (FRA) – €350m
Lyon (FRA) – €336m
PSV Eindhoven (NED) – €262m
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) – €251m.
