Study: Which Premier League Clubs Spend The Most On Premier League Talent?
We all know the Premier League has always had a premium attached to it when it comes to the transfer market. Many of us don’t believe Jack Grealish is a £105m player, but when you’re dealing with the big boys in the biggest league in the world, you’re going to have to splash the cash and securing one of the top players in that league isn’t going to be cheap. In fact, five of the top 10 most expensive transfers of all time involve a Premier League club. That should tell you how crazy the business is from these teams.
It’s not often that we see one of the big Premier League teams sell to a rival club, but with the current transfer market, we’ve seen some of the lower teams fetch some hefty fees for their players when selling to the top dogs. Going back to Leicester City’s historic Premier League win, the squad they had back then was unbelievable, and it was a shame to see most of it break up after that stunning season. But from a business perspective, it made complete sense. Leicester managed to secure a whopping £190.76m in the following three seasons from their Premier League title win. Players like Danny Drinkwater secured a £34,110,000 transfer fee from Chelsea, which is actually more than they paid for N’Golo Kante. That’s the premium we’re talking about in the Premier League.
This got us thinking. Is the Premier League premium so high that only Premier League clubs can pay for them? Well we’ve had a look at just how much Premier League teams are spending on Premier League talent and to do that, we’ve gone through every transfer from Premier League club to Premier League club since the 07/08 season and worked out just how much every team has spent.
It may come as no surprise to see that Manchester City have spent a staggering £665,510,000 on Premier League talent since their initial takeover making them the top spenders in the league and by quite some distance. Here’s a full list of their transfer activity from Premier League clubs…
|
Player |
Transfer fee (£) |
|
Kalvin Phillips |
43,870,000 |
|
Jack Grealish |
105,750,000 |
|
Nathan Ake |
40,770,000 |
|
Riyad Mahrez |
61,020,000 |
|
Kyle Walker |
47,430,000 |
|
John Stones |
50,040,000 |
|
Raheem Sterling |
57,330,000 |
|
Fabian Delph |
10,350,000 |
|
Bacary Sagna |
0 |
|
Wilfried Bony |
29,070,000 |
|
Scott Sinclair |
7,020,000 |
|
Jack Rodwell |
13,500,000 |
|
Samir Nasri |
24,750,000 |
|
Gael Clichy |
6,980,000 |
|
James Milner |
19,800,000 |
|
Carols Tevez |
26,100,000 |
|
Emmanuel Adebayor |
26,100,000 |
|
Joleon Lescott |
24,750,000 |
|
Kolo Toure |
16,830,000 |
|
Gareth Barry |
12,510,000 |
|
Shaun Wright-Phillips |
10,130,000 |
|
Craig Bellamy |
13,950,000 |
|
Wayne Bridge |
11,700,000 |
|
Tal Ben Haim |
5,760,000 |
A staggering difference to a team like Brentford who have only signed two players from Premier League clubs, one of them being Nico Yennaris who cost £90,000 and the other being Josh McEachran who cost £936,000. Just a little over £1m worth of spending from one of the smallest teams in the Premier League, and a difference of £664m between them and the highest spenders.
Luckily for you, we have compiled a list of all the current Premier League teams and their Premier League spending. Below we will have three lists…
- Each team currently in the Premier League and their spend on Premier League players since 07/08
- The Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ and their spending within the league since 07/08
- The Premier League’s top five spenders when it comes to Premier League transfers since 07/08
Each team currently in the Premier League and their spend on Premier League players since 07/08
| Team | Money spent (£) |
| Arsenal | 227,055,000 |
| Aston Villa | 258,046,000 |
| Bournemouth | 85,055,000 |
| Brentford | 1,026,000 |
| Brighton | 8,006,000 |
| Chelsea | 259,340,000 |
| Crystal Palace | 147,685,000 |
| Everton | 267,580,000 |
| Fulham | 112,510,000 |
| Leeds | 62,690,000 |
| Leicester | 103,465,000 |
| Liverpool | 478,850,000 |
| Man City | 665,510,000 |
| Man Utd | 539,630,000 |
| Newcastle | 180,509,000 |
| Not'm Forest | 19,438,000 |
| Southampton | 81,000,000 |
| Spurs | 312,670,000 |
| West Ham | 164,647,000 |
| Wolves | 16,430,000 |
The Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ and their spending within the league since 07/08
| Team | Money spent (£) |
| Arsenal | 227,055,000 |
| Chelsea | 259,340,000 |
| Liverpool | 478,850,000 |
| Man City | 665,510,000 |
| Man Utd | 539,630,000 |
| Spurs | 312,670,000 |
The Premier League’s top five spenders when it comes to Premier League transfers
| Team | Money spent (£) |
| Man City | 665,510,000 |
| Man Utd | 539,630,000 |
| Liverpool | 478,850,000 |
| Spurs | 312,670,000 |
| Everton | 267,580,000 |
