Top 10 clubs with biggest net spend in last five seasons (18-19 to 22-23 season)

These teams have spend a lot of money in recent seasons

A football club competing at the highest level must spend a lot of money in order to stay competitive. Signing the best players and hiring the best staff requires investment. A club’s net could go extremely high if they sign expensive players and fail to sell them for a decent amount. Many clubs from the top five leagues have spent a huge amount of money, especially in the premier league. But many times those clubs are not able to sell players for profit which leads to a huge amount of losses and then clubs suffer from huge debts.

Here we look at the top 10 clubs with the biggest net transfer spend in the last five seasons (alongside the net spend in each of the last five seasons and the league position the club finished in the respective season):

10. Liverpool: €313 M

The sports investment group, who also own the Boston Red Sox baseball team, took over Liverpool back in October 2010. Jurgen Klopp has been consistently griping about inequality in the transfer market, pointing out that Manchester City and Newcastle have so much money that no one else can realistically compete. Some top signings of the Klopp regime are - Sadio Mane, Geo Wijnaldum, Salah, VanDijk, Fabinho, Allison, Diego Jota, Konate, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez. The £37m signing of Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo from PSV Eindhoven won plenty of admiration as it was completed under the noses of rivals Manchester United, who were confident of securing the World Cup star's signature. Looking at net spend figures from the past five seasons, Liverpool sits eighth among Premier League clubs with a loss of £254m.

22-23: £-49.7m21-22: £-50.44m (2nd)20-21: £-58.7m (3rd)19-20: £29.94m (Champions)18-19: £-123.7m (2nd)

9. Juventus: €337 M

The Old Lady was among the powerhouses in Italy, and in the past 10 years, they have experienced incredible success. Milan’s loss was in reality Juve’s gain as they won nine consecutive Scudetto. They have also reached two Champions League finals, unfortunately losing them both, but it was an example of a club on the rise. In the transfer market, Juventus have often pulled off some great heists signing the likes of Paul Pogba, and Andre Pirlo for free but they have never shied away from spending big bucks.

Signed Cristiano Ronaldo for 117 million euros, Joao Cancelo for 40.4m euros, Douglas Costa for 40m euros, Leonardo Bonucci for 35m euros and Emre Can on a free transfer. They spent 263.20m euros to strengthen a team that already had Paulo Dybala, Sami Khedira, Mario Mandzukic, Juan Cuadrado and Miralem Pjanic. But after all those wonderful years on top Juventus is suffering now in Serie A currently placed 12th in the table.

8. Wolves: €355 M

Wolves have had by far their biggest summer in the transfer market, and it’s hard to blame them, signing a number of Champions League-level talents who have been looked at by the Premier League’s elite. Matheus Nunes, Goncalo Guedes and Sasa Kalajdzic have all proved themselves worthy of the top of the table. But the Wolves are currently struggling in the premier league and are placed 15th in the premier league.

22-23: £-103.15m21-22: £-5.09m (10th)20-21: £-7.37m (13th)19-20: £-81.3m (7th)18-19: £-78.53m (7th)

7. Aston Villa: €370 M

Aston Villa has traditionally been a force to be reckoned with in the English top flight, while they are also one of only five English clubs to have won the European Cup. They are now looking to re-establish themselves as a Premier League household name and they have not hesitated to spend big in order to get there. Villa has spent well over £400 million in the last four seasons alone and even managed to bring in former Liverpool and Barcelona ace Philippe Coutinho to further highlight their ambitions.

22-23: £-40.73m21-22: £-2.47m (14th)20-21: £-87.01m (11th)19-20: £-138.13m (17th)18-19: £-2.6m (5th in Championship)

6. Newcastle United: €422 M

The Tyneside club were purchased by a consortium made up of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Staveley's PCP Capital Partners and the Reuben brothers' RB Sports and Media in October 2021, making them the richest team in the entire world. They find themselves fourth placed in the premier league and can fulfil their dream to play in the UEFA Champions League.

22-23: £-161.74m21-22: £-115.19m (11th)20-21: £-34.18m (12th)19-20: £-32.89m (13th)18-19: £-7.68m (13th)

5. West Ham United: €435 M

West Ham United reportedly have the fifth highest net spend of clubs across the whole of Europe since the start of the 2018/19 season. The Hammers spent big this season on nine senior signings, adding striker Danny Ings for £12 million in January after acquiring eight new recruits in the summer window. Almost half of their total net spend has come this season, with their next highest being around -£80.5m in the 2018-19 season, with the signings of Issa Diop, Andriy Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson costing a combined total of £75.5m.

22-23: £-152.21m21-22: £-62.02m (7th)20-21: £-8.2m (6th)19-20: £-56.77m (16th)18-19: £-76.91m (10th)

4. Tottenham Hotspur: €477 M

Tottenham have a bit of a reputation for being tight with their money, but they have spent plenty of cash this century. Spurs has done a fine job in becoming one of the Premier League's so-called big six over the course of the last decade or so after languishing in the mid-table team at the start of the century. Although Spurs have only surpassed the £50 million mark on two occasions, with both Tanguy Ndombele and Richarlison costing £50m+, they have not held back when it comes to quantity.

22-23: £-122.95m21-22: £-54.09m (4th)20-21: £-85.79m (7th)19-20: £-74.14m (6th)18-19: £4.72m (4th)

3. Arsenal: €544 M

Very recently Arsenal reminded the world of their financial might, as they splashed money on new signings and the management has indeed backed Mikel Arteta ever since he took over the top job. Over the past decade, the Gunners have had a net spend of £583m. This is the highest amount for a London-based club. Players like Nicolas Pepe (£72m), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£57.38m) and Ben White (£52.65m) are some of their most expensive arrivals in the past few years. With a number of Mikel Arteta’s 2021 signings hitting the mark, the Spaniard has been backed again and the early signs are looking very positive thanks to City recruits Jesus and Zinchenko.

22-23: £-148.94m21-22: £-120m (5th)20-21: £-59m (8th)19-20: £-94.58m (8th)18-19: £-62.71m (5th)

2. Manchester United: €670 M

The Red Devils have historically been a team that is usually made up of superstars. They’re no rookies when it comes to the transfer window, and in the past decade alone, they have outspent every single club on the planet. Manchester United is the only football club in the world with a net spend of a billion pounds in the past decade.  The difference between MUFC and MCFC is the proper usage of the money. Despite a net spend higher than any club in the world, the Red Devils have not won the Premier League since 2013.

22-23: £-203.26m21-22: £-99.5m (6th)20-21: £-56.45m (2nd)19-20: £-134.87m  (3rd)18-19: £-45.8m (6th)

1. Chelsea: €749 M

Keeping pace with Chelsea's volume of signings and lavish outlay has been a dizzying business since American Todd Boehly's takeover of the club was confirmed on May 31, 2022. After a relative drought during the first month of Boehly's ownership, Chelsea made nine signings in under two months before the summer transfer window closed, and added eight more in the winter window, to take their season total to 17 players by the end of January. Alongside their summer Premier League record, the Blues also set a new winter transfer window spending record, of £291.65m/$356.95m.

22-23: £-480.38m21-22: £5.79m (3rd)20-21: £-166.86m (4th)19-20: £98.57m (4th)18-19: £-110.23m (3rd)