The TV deals for the Premier League clubs give them a massive advantage.
None of the other major football leagues, whether in Europe or elsewhere, come remotely close to what the English top tier generate.
Not only through the domestic UK rights deals with Sky Sports, TNT Sport and Amazon, but also the ever increasing riches from the overseas deals, with the EPL now firmly established as the world’s league.
You only have to look at the spending once again in this latest summer 2026 transfer window, the Premier League clubs collectively outspending any other country’s clubs by a serious margin.
So when it comes to how much squads around the world have cost to put together, no prizes for guessing where most of the more expensive ones are.
CIES Football Observatory have published a new report, showing the clubs in the world who have invested the most on transfer fees to recruit players currently in their squad, all figures in Euros.
Transfer fees committed to assemble the squad (€ Million) – Squads as on 9 September 2026.
Transfer fees to sign current first team players
| Club | € milllion |
|---|---|
| Liverpool | €1,226 |
| Manchester City | €1,209 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | €1,178 |
| Chelsea | €1,166 |
| Manchester United | €1,157 |
| Arsenal | €1,089 |
| Real Madrid | €1,021 |
| Paris Saint-Germain | €915 |
| Newcastle United | €865 |
| Aston Villa | €637 |
| Bayern Munich | €596 |
| Atletico Madrid | €585 |
| Juventus | €584 |
| Brighton | €562 |
| Bayer Leverkusen | €556 |
| Barcelona | €543 |
As you can see, all of the top six are Premier League clubs.
Not exactly difficult to predict which six!!
With eight PL clubs in total in the top ten, as Newcastle United and Aston Villa are added in.
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