Where has all the money gone? Research shows the Premier League lost over £600m on transfer fees in the summer – and joined FIVE other top world leagues in ending the window with a negative net spend
New research has shown that a number of major leagues lost money when it came to transfer expenditure over the summer, with the Premier League far out in front as the biggest spenders.
The summer window was another busy one for leagues across the world, with hundreds of millions pounds spent globally once again.
Several sizeable fees were dished out, from Julian Alvarez leaving Manchester City in an £81million deal, to Dominic Solanke swapping Bournemouth for Tottenham for the cost of £65m.
It wasn’t just the Premier League spending money, however, with the likes of the Saudi Pro League, Serie A and Ligue 1 teams also breaking the bank in bids to strengthen their squads.
And recent research carried out by Football Benchmark has shown that six major leagues worldwide lost money in total when it came to transfer fees, with two other divisions making profit through player sales..
Research has shown that the Premier League were one of a number of major leagues who lost money in transfer fees this summer
Chelsea were the biggest spenders in the division, splashing out over £200million on new players
Brighton, meanwhile, fronted the losses, losing £154m in transfer fees over the summer window
According to the report, last summer, six of the eight leagues finished the summer transfer window in positive balance overall when it came to transfer fees.
This year, however, six were in negative balance: the Premier League, the Saudi Pro League, Serie A, Ligue 1, the Bundesliga and LaLiga.
The Premier League were adjudged to have spent a total of just under £2billion, splashing out £1,966,319,080 on new additions between the 20 clubs.
As well as Solanke, other hefty deals included Leny Yoro’s £52m move to Manchester United, Joao Felix’s permanent move to Chelsea and Manuel Ugarte’s £51m swap to United.
The league did, however, also make a lot of money. The likes of Alvarez, Moussa Diaby and Michael Olise all left for sizeable sums, but those fees weren’t enough for the top flight to end the summer in profit.
The report suggests that clubs made an average of £66.9m each, though spent an average of £98.3m each.
14 of the 20 clubs in the league ended the summer with a negative balance compared to what they started it with in regards to transfer fees, with Chelsea leading the way in expenditure (201m) and Brighton fronting the overall balance loss (154m).
Leicester, Crystal Palace, Wolves, Newcastle, Everton, Fulham and Manchester City were the six sides the end the summer in profit.
Overall, the Premier League lost around £604m in transfer fees, averaging out to over £30m per club.
Manchester City made the most money overall, with Julian Alvarez’s £81m move to Atletico Madrid proving helpful
Other leagues also spent big, with Michael Olise swapping Crystal Palace for Bayern Munich
The Saudi Pro League also continued to spent money – including on the likes of Moussa Diaby (left) and Ivan Toney (right)
The English top flight, though joined by five other top leagues when it came to losing money via transfers, were the outright biggest losers financially overall.
The next closest league was the Saudi Pro League, who splashed out over £406m overall, with the income just £83.7m – the lowest of all eight leagues analysed.
They lost a total of £323.1m – almost half of the Premier League – as the continued to spend big, with the likes of Diaby, Ivan Toney and Marcos Leonardo all moving to the Middle East.
Elsewhere, Serie A had a net spent total of £252m overall, Ligue 1 £106m, the Bundesliga £61m and LaLiga £11m.
The Eredivisie and Liga Portugal made a net £91m and £157m respectively.
Though the league still spent just under £2bn between its 20 clubs, the Premier League still cut its spending by over £463m this summer compared to last year’s.
Just three teams had a positive spend balance last year: Wolves, Everton and Sheffield United.
And it was Manchester City who had the highest balance this year overall, standing at nearly £98m. The sale of Alvarez accounted for almost all of the money made, while the departures of Joao Cancelo and Taylor Harwood-Bellis also helped balance the books.
Just two signings were made, with Savinho arriving for £21m and Ilkay Gundogan returning for free.
The research doesn’t take into account wages paid, with Kylian Mbappe moving to Real Madrid for free but thought to be earning north of £1m a week
What is important to note, however, is that wages weren’t taken into consideration in the research. Kylian Mbappe joined Real Madrid for free from PSG, but is thought to be earning well over £1m a week at his new side.
Likewise, Victor Osimhen joined Galatasaray on loan from Napoli, with those two players regarded as having some of the highest market values of any players that moved in the summer.
The Premier League does, however, continue to be the biggest spending league, even though their spending was down in the summer compared to the year previous.
