Ten highest-spending leagues: Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga combined spend matches Prem total

Ian Watson
Arsenal fans urge Arsene Wenger to spend some money on new players.

The window isn’t closed yet but already the Premier League’s expenditure is equal to that of the next three highest-spending leagues combined.

Here are the 10 leagues to have spent the most in the transfer market so far this summer. All figures taken from transfermarkt

 

1) Premier League – £1.33bn
Income: £638.87m
Balance: £-688.19m
Most expensive signing: Darwin Nunez (Liverpool from Benfica, £67.5m)
Biggest sale: Marc Cucurella (Brighton to Chelsea, £58.77m)

Premier League clubs have spent the same as the next three highest-spending leagues – Serie A, Bundesliga and La Liga – combined. Chelsea have spent the most so far, with Todd Boehly chucking almost £168million on new players in his first transfer window as Blues owner/sporting director.

 

2) Serie A – £539.66m
Income: £539.09m
Balance: £-572,000
Most expensive signing: Bremer (Juventus from Torino, £36.9m)
Biggest sale: Matthijs De Ligt (Juventus to Bayern Munich, £60.3m)

It’s been a summer of big spending in Italy but Serie A appears to be learning to live within their means. Juventus have spent the most but they are currently operating at a profit of just over £8million so far this summer. Roma have been even more savvy, building a squad considered to be title contenders while running a profit of almost £31million.

 

3) Bundesliga – £424.42m
Income: £390.83m
Balance: £-33.59m
Most expensive signing: Matthijs De Ligt (Bayern Munich from Juventus, £60.3m)
Biggest sale: Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City, £54m)

You’ll be stunned to learn that Bayern Munich have spent the most of any German club, and that Borussia Dortmund have spent the second-highest amount, some way below Bayern but comfortably ahead of the rest.

 

4) La Liga – £369.26m
Income: £193.32m
Balance: £-175.94m
Most expensive signing: Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid from Monaco, £72m)
Biggest sale: Jules Kounde (Sevilla to Barcelona, £45m)

Around 38 per cent of La Liga’s spending has been done by Barcelona pulling all their levers. And still they can’t play all Joan Laporta’s shiny new signings. Sevilla have made the biggest profit so far with almost £68million. But at what cost on the pitch?

 

5) Ligue 1 – £336.02m
Income: £331.39m
Balance: £-4.62m
Most expensive signing: Vitinha (PSG from Porto, £37.35m)
Biggest sale: Aurelien Tchouameni (Monaco to Real Madrid, £72m)

Marseille, bless ’em, have tried to get closer to PSG this summer, but the Parisians have spent £30million more than them or anyone else in France.

 

6) Liga Portugal – £133.56m
Income: £316.44m
Balance: £182.88m
Most expensive signing: David Carmo (Porto from Braga, £18m)
Biggest sale: Darwin Nunez (Benfica to Liverpool, £67.5m)

The Portuguese league has turned the biggest profit of any division so far this summer – by a bloody long way. The next highest profit, almost £100million off Liga’s figure, is…

 

7) Eredivisie – £122.97m
Income: £208.84m
Balance: £85.87m
Most expensive signing: Steven Bergwijn (Ajax from Tottenham, £28.13m)
Biggest sale: Lisandro Martinez (Ajax to Manchester United, £51.63m)

Only five clubs in Holland have spent more than £2million on transfers this summer. Ajax have blown £82million but they’re still running at an £18million profit. All your players being linked with Man Utd clearly helps.

 

8) Super Lig Turkey – £79.31m
Income: £62.22m
Balance: £-17.10m
Most expensive signing: Lucas Torreira (Galatasaray from Arsenal, £5.4m)
Biggest sale: Min-jae Kim (Fenerbahce to Napoli, £16.25m)

 

Fenerbahce and Galatasaray are competing for the title of biggest spender in Turkey, with Fener currently £2million clear. But they’ve also lived roughly within their means, so far only £50,000 in the red. Galatasaray have a £10million deficit.

 

9) Jupiler Pro League – £70.09m
Income: £124.44m
Balance: £54.36m
Most expensive signing: Matias Galaza (Genk from Argentinos Jrs, £5.4m)
Most expensive departure: Charles De Ketelaere (Club Brugges to AC Milan, £28m)

The seven highest deals in Belgium this summer have all been outgoings, with Charles De Ketelaere the biggest of all, Club Brugge fetching almost £30million from AC Milan. Royal Antwerp have spent the most in an effort to close the gap on the top three, while Belgium has received more EFL Championship cash than any other league.

 

10) EFL Championship – £68.02m
Income: £134.49m
Balance: £66.47m
Most expensive signing: Gabriel Sara (Norwich from Sao Paulo, £5.45m)
Biggest sale: Nathan Collins (Burnley to Wolves, £21.87m)

Burnley identified the Belgian league as one of the closest in resemblance to the Championship so it comes as no surprise that most of the cash from the second tier has gone in that direction. Just over £112million of the money generated by Championship clubs has come from the Premier League.