Manchester United are second in the table as for as six Premier League clubs make the top 10
Manchester City may be leading the English Premier League, but they’re also topping a table that will give fans less comfort.
A table compiled by the CIES Football Observatory shows the Etihad club at the top of Europe’s elite when it comes to net spend over the last 10 transfer windows.
Since August 2016, City have spent £883.4m and taken in £329.3m, giving them a net spend of £554.1m.
That’s considerably more than city rivals United, who sit in second place with a net spend across the same period of £514.6m.
A total of six Premier League clubs can be found in the top 10, with Everton in sixth, Aston Villa in seventh, Chelsea in ninth and Arsenal in tenth.
Barcelona, whose dire finances have recently been the subject of intense scrutiny, sit third with a net spend of £413.6m.
The report explains that data used in compiling the table “comes from the CIES Observatory own research using data published by clubs or reported by media”.
No Premier League sides have a positive balance from the four-and-a-half-year period, with Southampton boasting the smallest gap at £43.9m.
The period covered by the report encompasses Pep Guardiola’s entire City reign to date, with the Spaniard having overseen numerous expensive deals on his way to eight trophies, including two Premier League titles.
Although the club were relatively quiet during the January transfer window, they prepared for the current season by spending £64.3m on Ruben Dias, £40m on Nathan Ake and £20.75m on Ferran Torres.
The top of the net spend table mirrors that of the EPL, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side currently trailing the leaders by five points.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
