Premier League net spending the highest in Europe with over €450 million blown.
An official study by Soccerex into transfer spending in the summer window and the effects of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play initiatives has been released.
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The figures are astonishing, with one of the areas that was considered by the researches being the total net spend by clubs in each of the five major European leagues – the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
This is how the leagues’ figures stack up, with the Premier League roaring ahead of the contenders:
French Ligue 1 (€-87 million)
The French top flight recorded the biggest net profit of any of the major leagues studied, with €87 million having been brought into Ligue 1 when player sales and acquisitions are considered. This is despite the huge spending of Paris Saint Germain on the likes of David Luiz, with AS Monaco having tempered their spending this summer as well as selling the likes of James Rodriguez.
Spanish La Liga (€-12 million)
One of the most eyebrow raising figures was that of the Spanish top flight, with La Liga clubs having recorded a small net profit overall, despite huge spending from the big two, Real Madrid and Barcelona, on superstars such as James Rodriguez and Luis Suarez. Real also sold, however, with Angel di Maria allowed to leave for Manchester United and Xabi Alonso moved on to Bayern Munich.
Italian Serie A (€30 million)
The first league to have made a net profit overall is the Italian top flight, with Italian clubs having spent a total net amount of €30m. This is despite a number of high profile departures from the league, including Torino duo Alessio Cerci and Ciro Immobile, with last season’s top two Juventus and AS Roma both having spent big.
German Bundesliga (€82 million)
The German Bundesliga stills seems to be an emerging league, despite the exploits of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, with these two contributing heavily to the overall €82m spend of the league with signings such as Mehdi Benatia and Ciro Immobile. The likes of Vfl Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen, further down the league, are also showing real ambition in the market.
English Premier League (€465 million)
Miles ahead of the rest of the competition is the English Premier League, who have spent a staggering €465m combined when player sales are also taken into account. All of the big clubs have spent, with Chelsea bringing in Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, Liverpool Mario Balotelli and Arsenal have signed Alexis Sanchez. Manchester United are the big contributors to the staggeringly high figure, however, with stars including Ander Herrera, Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao all imported by Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford.