Manchester United have racked up the biggest overspend on transfer fees in the last decade among clubs in Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues, according to a new study.
The Red Devils’ outlay on 33 transfers between July 2012 and November 2021 was 238 million euro (£209m) greater than the estimated total value of those players prior to their transfer under a statistical model developed by the CIES Football Observatory.
Juventus and Paris St Germain were found to be the two clubs with the next highest overspends, at 234m and 162m euro (£205m and £142m) respectively.
.@CIES_Football ⚽️ analysis of gaps bw fees invested & players' fair price 🤓 @ManUtd leads overspending table with +€2⃣3⃣8⃣M (+18%) ahead of @AVFCOfficial & @ChelseaFC 😬 @Wolves, @SpursOfficial & @ManCity among finest negociators 😊 Data & method 👉 https://t.co/DXs6KC0tjcpic.twitter.com/1krCQtSJ4e— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) September 19, 2022
Aston Villa registered the second-highest overspend among English clubs at 149m euro (£130m), followed by Chelsea on 135m (£118m).
Only three Premier League sides were among the 36 clubs that invested less money than expected to conclude the deals assessed, highlighting the role of English top-flight clubs in driving up transfer inflation.
Wolves were found to have underpaid by seven million euro, Tottenham by six million and Brighton by one million.
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