Money Down The Drain: These are the worst football clubs at transfers

Football is one of the sports where money plays a major role. Clubs spend millions to recruit players, who either succeed or fail. The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) has compiled a list of clubs with the most negative balance for the signings and transfers of non-academy players between 2014 and 2023. Here is the top 10, according to CIES.

FC Barcelona take first place, with a negative balance of -€631 million (-£544m). Barça made some big transfers between 2014 and 2023, notably Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho, the latter costing €135 million (£115m, $147m US) according to specialist football website Transfermarkt.

Like Barcelona, Chelsea is one of the three clubs in the top 10 to have spent more than a billion euros. According to the CIES, the Blues have a negative balance of -€483 million, which is partly explained by the loss on the transfer of Jorginho, among others. According to Transfermarkt, the Italian was signed for €57 million in 2018, but brought in just €11.3 million when he was sold to Arsenal in 2023.

It was the Gunners who came third in the CIES research, with a balance of -€436 million, partly due to the transfers of Pépé, Aubameyang and Lacazette, all of whom cost a lot of money but were all let go for free.

Fourth is French giants Paris Saint-Germain, who spent €825 million between 2014 and 2023 on expensive players such as Neymar and Di Maria, amongst others, but only made €415 million, accounting for a -€410 million balance.

Next up is Manchester United with a balance of -€328 million. The Red Devils spent €726 million between 2014 and 2023, but only recouped €398 million.

In sixth place is Italian giants AC Milan. The Rossoneri accounted for a balance of -€298 million in said period.

In seventh place is another Premier League club: Aston Villa. The Villains sold Jack Grealish in 2021 for a club record fee, but still have a balance of -€256 million, according to the CIES.

In eight place, we find Everton, who lost €251 million between 2014 and 2023, according to the CIES.

City-rivals Liverpool take ninth place, with a balance of -€249 million, after expensive signings such as Darwin Núñez and Cody Gakpo in recent years.

Juventus closes the top 10. Despite being the third club in this list to have spent over a billion euros between 2014 and 2023 (€1047m), the Old Lady only accounted for a negative balance of -€219 million thanks to collected fees worth €828 million.