Every Premier League Club’s Net Spend Since 2022 [Ranked]

The Premier League remains the richest league in the world by a significant margin, with spending reaching extraordinary levels since 2022. While clubs spent over £1.9 billion during the summer 2024 transfer window alone, net spending across the league has continued to rise sharply, reflecting a period of aggressive investment. This ultimately turned out to be the downfall for Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, whose poor recruitment led to poor performances and eventually his dismissal at Old Trafford. However, the 54-year-old wasn’t the only manager to spend a pretty penny.

While significant spending often requires balancing the books with player sales – especially to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) and Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) With that in mind, here is how each Premier League club ranks in terms of net spending since 2022.

Chelsea and Manchester United Lead the Way

The two giants have invested poorly in the transfer market

Unsurprisingly, Chelsea find themselves at the very bottom of the net spend table, a result of Boehly’s wildly aggressive transfer strategy, which has been heavily criticised by pundits like Jamie Carragher. Since Boehly’s takeover, the Blues’ spending spree has brought the tally of new additions to 43 players, including high-priced signings such as Pedro Neto and Joao Felix. This brings their total expenditure since 2022 to a staggering £1.1 billion — almost £600 million more than any other club. As a result, their net spend stands at over £656.1 million in the red.

Very close to them are Manchester United, with the Red Devils recording a net loss of just under £400 million over the same period. The financial mismanagement under the Glazer family’s ownership has yielded little return on investment, with high-profile departures like Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku underscoring their poor value for money in recent years.

The amount the club have spent since Erik ten Hag took charge at Old Trafford has not helped the pressure that is firmly on the Dutchman. Investments like Antony have appeared to be among the worst in the club’s history and their decline from where they finished in the Dutchman’s debut season to now is startling. It is issues like this that Ten Hag couldn’t shy away from when his time at the club came to an end.

Everton Make the Most Profit

Leicester City also end up in the green

Everton have recently taken the title of the most efficient club in the Premier League market based on net spend valuations. While other clubs are dealing with transfer debts running well into the millions, Sean Dyche’s team have remarkably managed to turn a profit of £80.1m over the last two seasons.

However, this efficiency is not due to a shrewd transfer strategy of buying undervalued talent and selling for significant profit. Instead, it reflects the club’s deep financial troubles, which culminated in a point deduction last season due to breaches of financial regulations. As a result, the Toffees have been forced to drastically tighten their budget, selling off their most valuable players whenever possible to balance the books and avoid further penalties.

Leicester City, newly promoted back to the Premier League, sit second in terms of market efficiency. This is largely due to a major sell-off of their key players following their 2023 relegation to the Championship, which helped generate funds and reduce their wage bill. Despite their successful promotion back to the top flight, the Foxes still face a challenging season ahead, as they remain among the favourites for relegation once again.

Manchester City Almost Break Even

Brighton and Wolves also make good viewing

As the likes of United, Chelsea and even Arsenal find themselves deep in the red, it is the Sky Blues who incredibly, given their success, find themselves teetering ever so close to a profit-turning score. In what can be described as the most dominant era in English football, Pep Guardiola has only managed a net spend of £12.4m. In fact, had he not added Savinho from Girona this summer, he would find his side sitting just above Leicester.

While the champions have clearly spent a lot of money, they know when to capitalise in the market and when to sell players at the right time. The departures of the likes of Julian Alvarez, Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte stand out in that sense.

Elsewhere, Brighton’s reputation for buying low and selling high remains intact with a net spend of just over £16m. This would’ve been a profitable score had the Seagulls not broken their transfer record twice in 2024, using the money made off the likes of Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister the year prior to good use. This has not prevented them from pushing into consistent top half finishers in the division.

There have also been impressive results from Wolves, who will have largely benefited from the recent sale of Pedro Neto to Chelsea. Smart recruitment, though, has meant that the Black Country outfit has been able to make the most of the cost-effective deals, although this hasn’t helped with performances on the pitch as the start of the 2024/25 season.