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Four Premier League clubs boast a squad value of over €1bn according to research that looks at the aggregate values of clubs across Europe’s big-5 leagues.

According to the algorithm exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory, the estimated value of the squad of five teams is over one billion euro, four of which are from the Premier League, reflecting the financial power of the English top division.

 

 

Of the top five, only Barcelona is the best-ranked non-English team (ranked 3rd) with a squad value of €1.2bn.

 

Manchester City leads the rankings with a total transfer value of €1.5bn. This figure is one and a half times higher than the €964m transfer fees spent to assemble the squad which includes the signings of Riyad Mahrez (£61m) and Kyle Walker (£47m). (pictured above)  

 

However, this capital gain is only hypothetical insofar a team like Manchester City wants to win trophies rather than releasing its best footballers. In addition, within the current inflationary context, possible replacements are far more expensive than their predecessors.

 

 

Liverpool, who trail Manchester City in the Premier League by one point, follows in second place in the rankings with a squad valued at over €1.3bn, 2.1 times the €659m spent to assemble the squad.

 

The Merseyside club are followed by Tottenham (4th) and Manchester United (5th) with a squads valued at just over €1bn each. Tottenham’s squad was the least costly to assemble of the top five at just €365m, giving them and aggregate value of 2.89 times the money spent compared to Manchester United’s €754m.

 

The squad transfer value of four teams of the table is more than three times greater than the sums spent in transfer indemnities to recruit current players: Olympique Lyonnais (15th,  x3.3), Real Sociedad (31st, x3.4), LOSC Lille (37th, x3.2) and Real Betis (38th, x3.1). Well-established in the top division league of their country of belonging, these clubs have an equally well-established business model relying on the promotion of talents.

 

The estimates for all big-5 league players are available on the CIES Football Observatory website.

 

Image: PA Images