FIFA have released a detailed report on the last decade of international transfers, and there are some intriguing findings.
Manchester City have unsurprisingly been the biggest spenders in the last ten years, and there’s no doubt that the big money paid for the likes of Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling has contributed a huge amount to their recent success.
Chelsea are not far behind and have long been one of the most competitive names in the market ever since wealthy Russian owner Roman Abramovich took over in 2003.
These two continue to flaunt their wealth by signing world class names like Jack Grealish and Romelu Lukaku this summer, and, having contested last season’s Champions League final, they’re sure to be among the main teams challenging for major honours this term as well.
See below for the top 15 spenders, via the FIFA report…
What’s intriguing is seeing serial under-achievers Arsenal so high up here, with the Gunners not winning a league title since all the way back in 2004 and also no longer even finishing in the European qualification places.
They’re higher on this list than Liverpool, who have won the Premier League title and Champions League in the last few years after smart spending on players like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
A perfect illustration of how badly Arsenal have spent their money compared to Liverpool is the fact that the Reds signed both Salah and Mane for a combined £68m, which is less than the Gunners paid for Nicolas Pepe.
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Salah cost £34m, as per BBC Sport, the same as Mane, as per BBC Sport, while Pepe’s transfer fee was a staggering £72m, as per BBC Sport.
Arsenal have also spent more than Juventus, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich and Monaco, who have all won league titles in the last decade.
I suppose this will provoke the Twitter imbeciles who despite never going to Anfield seem to think that FSG should be spending like the state owned clubs or oligarchy bank rolled Chelsea. Liverpool’s situation is completely different and a combination of fantastic management by Klopp and shrewd transfer dealing have been very successful. Amazing to think that it has worked so well.