Man Utd's most expensive squad in the world

To build the current squad, the "Red Devils" had to spend nearly one and a half times more than Arsenal, Liverpool and Real Madrid.

According to data released by the CIES Football Observatory on September 13, Man Utd has spent $1.235 billion to build its current squad, including nearly $500 million since coach Erik Ten Hag took over the team in June 2022.

The Dutchman signed Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia in his first summer at Old Trafford, spending more than $150 million. He also bought Antony for $106 million, making the Brazilian winger the third most expensive player in United's history, behind Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku. This summer, United also spent $90 million on Ramus Hojlund, $75 million on Mason Mount and $60 million on Andre Onana. CIES ' figures include add-ons.

Onana played in a friendly match where Man Utd won 3-1 against Lens on August 5. Photo: Reuters — Onana played in a friendly match where Man Utd won 3-1 against Lens on August 5. Photo: *Reuters*

Chelsea are second with a squad worth $1.217 billion, having spent most of that under Todd Boehly, who replaced Roman Abramovich in May 2022. Last month, Chelsea spent $144 million on Moises Caicedo, breaking the record of $131 million they set in January for Enzo Fernandez.

Man City ranked third with a squad of 1.119 billion USD. Nearly a quarter of this amount was spent on four players in the summer transfer window of 2023, including Josko Gvardiol, Matheus Nunes, Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic. Compared to Man Utd and Chelsea, Man City achieved a better return on investment. Last season, the Etihad team won the Premier League for the third consecutive season, completing the treble target.

PSG is the only non-Premier League team to make the top five. The French side is fourth with a squad worth $1.073 billion. PSG also spent the most on attack, with $600 million on strikers. Meanwhile, Liverpool invested the most on goalkeepers, with $79 million. Meanwhile, Man Utd and Real Madrid spent the most on defenders and midfielders, with $412 million and $481 million respectively.

In terms of total investment, Arsenal ranked fifth with $897 million, just above Tottenham's $890 million. Liverpool ranked seventh with $825 million, while Real Madrid ranked eighth with $759 million. The Spanish team and PSG were the only two non-Premier League clubs to make the Top 10. The remaining two spots in the Top 10 belonged to Newcastle with $708 million and West Ham with $542 million.

Serie A has 15 teams in the Top 100, while La Liga has 12. Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga each have 11 teams. Juventus is the biggest spender in Serie A, spending $508 million, just ahead of Napoli with $421 million. AC Milan and Inter follow with $356 million and $275 million. Meanwhile, in La Liga, Atletico Madrid is second behind Real Madrid with a $415 million squad. Barca is third with $402 million.

The Saudi Pro League is the biggest non-European league in the Top 100, with four entries. Al Hilal is ranked 18th with a total investment of $411 million. This summer, they signed Neymar from PSG, Malcom from Zenit, Aleksandar Mitrovic from Fulham and Ruben Neves from Wolves.

Thanh Quy (according to CIES )

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