With the closing of this last window of signings, Manchester City has reached a record never seen before in the history of football. According to a study published recently by the CIES Football Observatory, the group now led by Pep Guardiola has exceeded 1,000 million euros in transfer spending in the last decade (1,014), followed by Paris Saint Germain (913) and Real Madrid (902), which stay close to this astronomical figure.

Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid also enter the top ten of this ranking with an expense of 697 million and 550 respectively. United (751), Juventus (719), Liverpool (639), Chelsea (561) and Arsenal (498) complete this top ten investment in signings in the last decade.

That the first two clubs in this list are City and PSG, it is no accident. In 2008, the Arab Emirates investment group led by Sheikh Al-Nahyan took control of the bluesky team. This meant an important injection of capital for the team to grow economically and sportively, and consequently cease to be Manchester's poor neighbor. In the case of the Parisian entity, something similar happened three years later. In his case, the money came from Qatar in 2011 with the aim of bringing the Champions League to the French capital for the first time in history, something that has not yet been achieved despite the significant economic effort.

Greater investment in signings (2010-2019)

  • 1. Manchester City - 1,014 million
  • 2. Paris St-Germain - 913 million
  • 3. Real Madrid - 902 million
  • 4. Manchester United - 751 million
  • 5. Juventus - 719 million
  • 6. Barcelona - 697 million
  • 7. Liverpool - 639 million
  • 8. Chelsea - 561 million
  • 9. Atletico Madrid - 550 million
  • 10. Arsenal - 498 million

The study describes in detail all the movements of European clubs in the last 10 years and therefore other interesting conclusions are drawn. For example, the average expenditure per team in the five major European leagues. The Premier League is also at the top of this list, with 345 million spending, followed by La Liga and Serie A with 167. Bundesliga and Ligue 1 are in line with 124 and 118.

This report also shows the difference in investment between clubs within the same league. In this case it is the Spanish domestic championship that is at the top, since Madrid has spent 148 times more than Mallorca in these last two years. The imbalance is also notable in France: Nimes should multiply its disbursement in signings by 114 to match that of the PSG. In Germany this difference is reduced, since Bayern has spent 85 times more than Paderborn. In fact, the Bavarian team, without being among the ten teams that have invested more in signings, has managed to lift the Champions League in 2013 and reach at least the semifinals repeatedly in the last decade.

Serie A and Premier League are the most equal tournaments in this regard according to the CIES document. In Italy, Juventus has spent 63 times more than Lecce. And in England, the City only 32 more than the Norwich. This balance can also be reflected in sports results. Not surprisingly, two of his representatives, Liverpool and Tottenham, fought last June in Madrid for being European champions despite being behind Manchester City in the league, a sign that English football is once again the great dominator

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