Footballscience.net
With the recent exodus of players into Saudi Arabia it seemed reasonable to have a look on net transfers over certain time frames.
The following graphs display the 30 most active clubs starting with the ones having the greatest volume of financial transaction over the last 10 years. The figures published include fixed transfer fees, any add-ons regardless of whether they have actually been paid, as well as sums invested in the context of paying loans. Amounts negotiated for loans with an obligation to buy are included in the breakdown for the year of the transfer. Within the limits of available information, the data on beneficiaries considers sell-on fees negotiated by previous clubs.
During the last 10 years, Manchester United has the most negative balance (-€1.396 billion), followed by Chelsea and Paris St-Germain.
The former clubs are also inside the top 5 in the post-covid area.
The usual Spanish, German, French and Italian suspects are listed as well. Milan AC as the first Italian site followed by Bayern, Real and Barcelona. Galatasaray and Al-Hilal are the two clubs that have the highest negative net transfer balance outside big-5 league clubs with the lalter sitting in 2nd place in the 2023 period (2nd graph below).
Generally, there are 17 out of 30 clubs from the English Premier league showing intense financial activity. Consequently, the sum of the net transfer of the English clubs far exceeds other nations.
Having looked at the negative balances it seems interesting to check the positive ones as well.
Benfica accumulated close to 780 mio€ over the last decade sitting comfortably at the top of the table, followed by Ajax and RB Salzburg.
Additional two Portuguese sites (Sporting and FC Porto) inside the top 6 clubs display the ability to create positive net income selling players. Generally, the landscape seems more diverse with regards to positive income. That is Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and other leagues are able to create financial surplus from transfers.
The top three clubs over the last decade are dominating in the post-covid area as well.
The last figure presents the most recent analysis, net transfer plus in 2023. Villareal as the “new” top site followed by Benfica and Stade Rennais.
Reference:
https://football-observatory.com/WeeklyPost429
