Highlights
- Premier League clubs spent over £2.36 billion in the summer transfer window, surpassing the £2 billion mark for the first time.
- The Premier League's spending far exceeded that of other top European leagues, with the Bundesliga, Serie A, and La Liga combined falling short.
- Clubs like Watford, Norwich City, and Huddersfield Town, have made significant profits through player sales and smart financial management.
Premier League clubs took their spending to another level during the summer transfer window ahead of the 2023/24 season. According to Deloitte, the clubs in the top flight of English football spent a combined £2.36 billion, which makes it the first time the Premier League spending has smashed the £2 billion mark.
The previous record was set only 12 months prior as £1.9 billion was spent on transfers by the top flight sides with some of the biggest deals during the 2022 summer transfer window including Darwin Núñez to Liverpool for £85 million, as well as the Brazilian duo Casemiro and Antony joining Manchester United for a combined fee of well over £100 million.
The Premier League's spending dwarfed that of Europe's other top leagues in the summer of 2023, outstripping the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga combined. Some of the other divisions that make up the top 5 European leagues have struggled to keep up with the financial power of the Premier League and have even been overtaken by the emerging Saudi Pro League in the most recent window.
For the time being, the Premier League remains the top-spending division in the world, with the top clubs contributing a large portion of the money spent, although the smaller clubs are beginning to catch up in terms of expenditure. We at GIVEMESPORT decided to take a look at the net spend of clubs to get an idea of the kind of money spent by each side.
A single transfer window, though, isn't truly a fair sample size to judge how a team has fared in the market. With that in mind, we've taken to the ever-reliable Transfermarkt to look at every Premier League club's net spend since the 2018/19 season. This means 28 teams are included with various clubs having been relegated and promoted within the five seasons since.
For those not familiar with the term, net spend is the figure spent when taking into account both expenditure and income from transfer deals. While 28 teams have competed in the English top-flight since 2018/19. All but five of them have a positive net spend in that period. So, we take a look at the net spend of each Premier League club since the 2018/19 season below.
28 Watford - -£106.98 million
Watford are the team to have made the most profit since 2018/19 out of all 28 clubs that have taken part in the Premier League for at least one season since that season. It's not even close there, as the Hornets raised more than £100 million more than they have spent in those five years. Joao Pedro, Richarlison, and Abdoulaye Doucoure are among the most expensive players to have exited Vicarage Road since 2018.
This massive profit of £107.01 million was made even after spending more money than five of the other clubs to make this list. Ismaila Sarr was the biggest signing the club made in that time at £25 million, and the Senegalese winger even contributed to the income as he recently departed for Ligue 1.
27 Norwich City - -£38.64 million
Another team that is now in the second tier of English football, Norwich also made huge profit since the summer 2018 transfer window. The Canaries have made a net profit of £38.66 million in these five years after spending £95.14 million and bringing in £133.82 million. Norwich are known as a bit of a 'yo-yo club' these days, with the sheer number of times they have been up and down between the top two tiers, but they have done well financially in the process.
Emi Buendia, Ben Godfrey, and James Maddison brought in good money for the club in recent years with the trio joining Aston Villa, Everton, and Leicester City respectively. A lack of money being spent in the past two years looks to have consigned the club to Championship status for the immediate future.
26 Huddersfield Town - -£20.46 million
2018/19 was the last season Huddersfield Town spent in the Premier League and the club has been battling against relegation in the Championship in recent times. It comes as no surprise that they are the second-lowest spenders on this whole list, having splashed out £57.44 million with almost all of that money being spent in the first of the five years looked at.
The Yorkshire club have a net profit of £20.48 million with the income being racked up over time with multiple player sales, rather than one big sale. The biggest sale by Huddersfield in the given period is Philip Billing, who moved to Bournemouth for just under £15 million.
25 Brighton - -£18.24 million
Brighton are the only current Premier League team to have brought in more money than they have spent since 2018 which becomes an even more remarkable feat when considering the fact Roberto de Zerbi has got the Seagulls flying high in the league and playing European football. Players like Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, and Yves Bissouma have all been brought in for nominal fees before being moved on for massive sums of money only years later. Caicedo is now the most expensive player in Premier League history after his move to Chelsea for £115 million.
Kaoru Mitoma is another example of brilliant business with Brighton's model of identifying players in lesser-known divisions and making them into stars being an inspiration for the clubs that aren't necessarily able to compete with the top clubs on financial terms. For this reason, the £18.27 million net profit is likely to only increase in the coming transfer windows.
24 West Brom - -£10.48 million
The Baggies are the last side on the list to have brought in more money than they have spent since 2018/19 and are yet another club that haven't been seen in the top division in English football for several years now. The club have never been one to spend big on players, as they tend to go for smarter purchases for smaller fees instead. In recent seasons, free transfers have become a more common occurrence for the side struggling to get out of the Championship.
Only three clubs have spent more money than West Brom in the last five years, having spent just under £80 million. This has helped the Baggies bring in £10.49 million as net profit. The lack of money spent may point in the direction of why West Brom look quite far off the Premier League level nowadays.
23 Leicester City - £8.25 million
Leicester City have dropped out of the Premier League for the first time since they won the league title in 2016 and as a result, the Foxes lost their star player - James Maddison - to Tottenham for a fee of £40 million to help their cause further and keep them low on the list. Wesley Fofana was also sold for £75 million in the summer of 2022 which brings profits over £100 million over the past two years.
Leicester have the fourth-highest income of the Premier League sides with a massive £374.41 million. Over the five years, the club have spent very little more than that figure as their net spend is only £8.26 million. Some big players like Youri Tielemans, Maddison and Fofana are all factored into the expenditure of the Foxes since 2018.
22 Luton Town - £12.34 million
The phrase 'working on a shoestring budget' is very fitting when it comes to clubs like Luton Town. Not blessed with the financial power of teams around them, the Hatters have still been able to find a way into the top flight. The clever use of the loan market as well as snapping up players on free transfers has seen Luton spend less money than any other team on the list with £23.56 million.
Leicester are the only team to have a lower net spend of all Premier League clubs since 2018/19 out of the teams to have made a net loss. Just under £20 million was the extent of Luton's spending during their first transfer window as a Premier League club with Ross Barkley, Marvelous Nakamba, and Ryan Giles joining the club. A net spend of £12.36 million is the second-lowest of the current teams in the top flight.
21 Cardiff City - £40.53 million
The 2018/19 season saw Cardiff City relegated and the Welsh club have spent the following four seasons in the Championship which makes it understandable that they rank quite low in terms of net spend. Only Huddersfield and Luton Town have spent less money in the five years than Cardiff have as the Bluebirds have an expenditure of £65.13 million.
With an income of £24.5 million, the Championship side are currently sitting on a net spend of £40.61 million. Bobby De Cordova Reid is the biggest sale by Cardiff in the last five years and even then, the forward joined Fulham for less than £10 million.
20 Brentford - £49.71 million
Thomas Frank has worked wonders for the Bees in the past five years as the Danish boss took over in 2018 and guided his side to an 11th-placed finish in the Championship. Fast-forward to the 2022/23 season and Brentford achieved a top-half finish in the Premier League. This is in large part due to the clever nature of their business over the years, as players are often bought for small fees and developed into players that are desired by top clubs for large fees.
The club could see their net spend of £49.86 million turn into profit in the near future with Ivan Toney being linked with a move to various top six sides. The English forward netted 20 league goals in the last campaign and has been brilliant for the Bees since he arrived from Peterborough for less than £5 million. Toney will surely demand a fee of over £50 million, which would be more than a 10x profit.
19 Southampton - £60.21 million
Southampton were previously seen as the original Brighton as the Saints were renowned for finding bargains from different European leagues before selling them on to the bigger clubs for large profits. This was the case with the likes of Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk, who both joined Liverpool for big fees. These deals did happen before the 2018/19 season, however, and the club have fallen from grace in this respect.
In fairness to the club, James Ward-Prowse, Romeo Lavia and Tino Livramento have all recently been shipped out to Premier League sides for big fees amounting to more than £100 million combined. So, while the talent is there, the performances in the pitch haven't lived up to expectation which is why Southampton find themselves in the Championship with a very fair net spend of £60.35 million.
18 Everton - £87.01 million
It has been well documented and become the consensus over the years that Everton may not have been the best in the division regarding getting value for money in their transfer business. Anthony Gordon and Richarlison are two players to have brought in significant fees over the past 15 months or so, to raise some money. The latter was the most expensive signing for the Toffees since 2018 after being brought in from Watford for £34 million to be the main man.
That didn't quite work out as planned but, making a profit on the player is always a good thing for a club towards the bottom of the table. Amadou Onana is the most expensive player currently in Sean Dyche's squad and could be the next to make a big money exit from the Merseyside club soon, as the Belgium international has impressed and caught attention recently. Everton having a net spend of £87.32 million may shock a few after heavy criticism of their spending habits over recent years.
17 Burnley - £101.78 million
Dyche was the manager at Turf Moor for most of the past five seasons and the English manager was forced to work with very small budgets in each transfer window and relied heavily upon free transfer signings and the occasional loan move. This has changed in recent times with new ownership at the club.
The majority of the £228.10 million spent by the Clarets since 2018 has come in the past 18 months or so to bring in James Trafford, Lyle Foster, and Zeki Amdouni among others. This has contributed towards a net spend of £102 million for Vincent Kompany's team as they look to create a team capable of retaining their Premier League status.
16 Crystal Palace - £114.43 million
Crystal Palace have been a Premier League team for more than 10 consecutive seasons now and the Eagles are constantly facing the uphill battle of losing key players in most transfer windows with Wilfried Zaha and Aaron Wan-Bissaka being the most notable names to have departed Selhurst Park since 2018. Unfortunately for Crystal Palace, however, a lot of players have left on free transfers over the years with Zaha having done so in the summer.
Had these players been sold on for even decent transfer fees, the club would have a lower net spend than the £114.70 million they are currently sitting on. Crystal Palace have the fourth-lowest income of all 28 clubs on this list, which goes to show the area in which Steve Parish and co must improve going forward.
15 Sheffield United - £121.31 million
Sheffield United are now into their third campaign in the Premier League since 2018, having secured promotion back to the top league in 2023. Upon their return to the top flight, the Blades immediately lost two of their star players in the form of Iliman Ndiaye and Sander Berge to Marseille and Burnley respectively. This raised just under £30 million and helped the club spend more than double that figure to bolster their ranks with the likes of Cameron Archer and Gustavo Hamer being brought in.
Rhian Brewster and Aaron Ramsdale were brought in for sizable transfer fees in 2020, although the latter was sold on for a profit the following season. Finances are more restricted at Bramall Lane in comparison to most other current Premier League sides, so it may be a surprise that Sheffield United have a net spend of £121.65 million.
14 Bournemouth - £168.67 million
Bournemouth are another side that have become one of those teams that go between the Premier League and the Championship and the Cherries has spent a low amount over the years until 2023, as new owners have come in December 2022 and immediately started investing in the playing staff. Over £100 million was spent over the summer transfer window on players such as Tyler Adams, Hamed Traore, and Alex Scott, something that would not have been possible under the previous regime.
With that in mind, only £154.20 million has been raised from selling players throughout the five seasons in question. To have a net spend of £169.10 million, the club have done extremely well as this was less than £70 million heading into 2023.
13 Leeds United - £177.13 million
Leeds United may have dropped back down to the Championship after three seasons in the Premier League, but the club still have a higher net spend than a lot of teams that have spent more years in the top tier than they have. The Yorkshire-based club have got a net spend of £177.59 million over the last five years after spending £338.41 million on new signings in that time.
Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha were sold in 2022 for a combined £93 million to help raise funds and keep the net spend to a respectable level. Tyler Adams brought in more than £20 million after being sold to Bournemouth after Leeds were relegated to the Championship.
12 Wolves - £204.74 million
Financial Fair Play has prevented Wolves from spending too much on players in 2023, with the club being in need of raising funds from player sales. Club captain, Ruben Neves, finally departed Molineux after years of speculation with the Portuguese midfielder joining Al Hilal for £50 million. A late Manchester City swoop to sign Matheus Nunes for £54 million helped ease any financial struggles further, and offset some of the money spent on bringing Matheus Cunha to the club.
Gary O'Neil's side will have to proceed with caution to not increase their £205.24 million net spend, although Wolves have brought in the fifth-highest amount of money in the Premier League from selling their assets. Pedro Neto looks to be the next man that will be sold for a large fee with the winger impressing severely at the beginning of the 2023/24 season.
11 Fulham - £207.86 million
Fulham are one of the clubs to have had multiple stints in the Premier League since 2018 which means that despite having a couple of years out with the division, Marco Silva's side find themselves relatively high on this list. Aleksandar Mitrovic has recently departed to join Al Hilal for £46 million having cost the London club £20 million originally in 2018.
Jean Michael Seri was signed in the same window as the Serbian forward and remains the most expensive purchase in the club's history over five years on. This shows that Fulham have been an active side in the market with lots of players coming in, without ever splashing out ludicrous fees on a single player. £208.40 million is the current net spend of the club, who are looking to establish themselves as a Premier League club for many years to come.
10 Nottingham Forest - £227.25 million
Nottingham Forest may only be embarking on their second Premier League season in more than 20 years, but the club find themselves in the top 10 for net spend over the past five years. The owners of the club have appeared determined to reinstate Nottingham Forest as a regular side in the English top flight since they gained promotion from the Championship in 2022. In their first season back in the Premier League, the club spent just over £170 million as they brought in an incredible 30 first-team players.
Ibrahima Sangare gave up the prospect of playing Champions League football with PSV Eindhoven to join Steve Cooper's side in the recent transfer window for more than £30 million. Brennan Johnson is the only real source of income for the club to date after the Welshman joined Tottenham in the summer for £50 million, with only a couple of other players bringing in nominal fees, bringing their total net spend to £227.80 million over only two campaigns.
9 Aston Villa - £319.77 million
Aston Villa have had a massive resurgence in the past decade, with the club having slipped into the Championship in 2016 for the first time in their history. The Villans have bounced back, however, since their promotion in 2019 as Unai Emery has the club back into European competition for the first time in over 10 years. Moussa Diaby was the biggest piece of business done over the summer with Aston Villa fighting off competition from the Saudi Pro League to sign the French winger for £48 million.
Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Leon Bailey, and Emi Buendia have all commanded big transfer fees over the past two years, but have proved to be worth it as Aston Villa find themselves dreaming of Champions League football in years to come. Jack Grealish's move to Manchester City for a record fee at the time has helped supplement a lot of the spending that has occurred since 2021. Villa have a net spend of £320.57 million since the 2018/19 campaign.