The most valuable squads in European football have been revealed with two Premier League clubs ranking inside the top 10 teams.
Sides playing in Europe’s top divisions are able to lure some of the best players with big pay checks, high-class training facilities and of course the hope of playing in the coveted Champions League.
According to reports, gross transfer spend has increased in Europe’s ‘top five’ leagues, with spending rising by £943million (€1.1billion) in the last year.
Premier League clubs are perhaps some of the biggest spenders, with teams in the top-flight having, for the first time ever, crossing the £2bn mark for transfers in last summer’s transfer window, surpassing the previous record of £1.92bn in 2022.
Despite that, only two Premier League clubs are included in the rankings of the top 10 teams with the most valuable squads in Europe.
Having signed English sensation Jude Bellingham in the summer, LaLiga giants Real Madrid rank as the team with the third highest squad value in Europe’s top leagues
Spending has increased across Europe’s top leagues in the past year with clubs having spent approximately £943million in the past year
In fact, Premier League sides have seen a huge rise in transfer spending, with clubs in the top-flight having now spent over £2bn in transfer fees
According to figures from a statistics report from KPMG, Manchester City lead the way with the highest squad market value as of January 1, 2024, boasting a nine per cent increase in their team’s value.
And they’ve trumped some big teams to climb to the top of the rankings, including Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, who placed second and third respectively.
While City boast a squad valuation of £1,213m (€1,414m), PSG’s squad is rated at £988m (€1,152m) while Madrid’s is also priced at £998m (€1,152m).
Pep Guaridiola’s treble winners are crammed full of talents, from the likes of star man Erling Haaland to younger talent Phil Foden.
Equally, they’ve strengthened their squad over the summer with Josko Gvardiol, Jeremy Doku, Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic all signing for the Premier League champions – for a total price of around £211m.
Next in the rankings comes Bayern Munich and Barcelona, who have both actually decreased in squad value this year.
The German outfit have dropped by two per cent of their value, despite having signed star striker Harry Kane in the summer.
| Team | Value | Percentage increase/decrease (+/-) |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | £1,213m (€1,414m) | +9 percent |
| Paris Saint-Germain | £988m (€1,152m) | +15 percent |
| Real Madrid | £988m (€1,152m) | +21 percent |
| Bayern Munich | £878m (€1,023m) | -2 percent |
| Barcelona | £862m (€1005m) | -1 percent |
| Manchester United | £829m (€966m). | +11 percent |
| Napoli | £585m (€682m) | +9 percent |
| Borussia Dortmund | £522m (€609m) | -3 percent |
| Juventus | £399m (€465m) | -11 percent |
| Benfica | £358m (€417m) | +11 percent |
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City finished top of the table, surpassing both PSG and Madrid
Football Benchmark have revealed the squad valuations of clubs across Europe’s top leagues
City spent around £211m in the previous year on new signings, taking their valuation to £1,213m (€1,414m)
Manchester United, meanwhile, have narrowly missed out on finishing inside the top five, placing sixth in the standings, boasting a squad value of £829m (€966m).
Interestingly it comes as United’s profits have also dropped in the last season, according to Football Benchmark.
That comes even after Erik ten Hag spent approximately £179m on Mason Mount, Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund in the summer window.
Napoli, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus follow behind them, with Portuguese champions, Benfica, boasting an 11 per cent rise in their squad value, placing 10th in the table.
Juventus, meanwhile, have interestingly seen a drop in their squad value of 11 per cent, which could perhaps be down to the departures of Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin, who are both now plying their trade at Tottenham.
Man United, meanwhile, have made several new signings in last summer’s window but have failed to place inside the top five clubs
Ajax, meanwhile, who signed Jordan Henderson this week, have seen the biggest decrease in value of clubs featured on the list, with their value dropping by 29 per cent
Galatasaray had the biggest increase in value, rising by a whopping 85 per cent
Dutch clubs Feyenoord and Ajax make up the bottom five clubs on the list, with the Eredivisie champions boasting a 57 per cent increase in squad value.
Meanwhile Ajax, who have just signed Jordan Henderson, have surprisingly seen the biggest drop off in squad value in the last year, with their squad price dropping by £84m (€99m) in value.
Galatasaray are the club who have seen the highest increase, boasting a whopping 85 per cent change in valuation with their squad’s value rising by £89m (€104).
At the bottom of the rankings come Lyon and Fenerbahce, who, similar to their Super Lig rivals, Galatasaray, have also seen an increase in squad valuation of 27 per cent.