Summer transfer window 2023: Chelsea make most (but spend far more) as Wolves, Bayern join top 10
Chelsea raked in more than anyone else in Europe – but still way below the amount they spent on Todd Boehly’s summer trolley dash. Deadline day catapulted two clubs into the top 10.
Here are the 10 clubs who have banked the most money from sales this summer. For consistency, for the most part, we’ve used fees and figures from transfermarkt…
1) Chelsea – £226.1m (€264.2m)
Biggest sale: Kai Havertz (to Arsenal, £60.1m)
Chelsea have shown no reluctance to sell to rivals, with Mateo Kovacic following Havertz through the door on his way to Manchester City before Mason Mount joined Manchester United. The Saudi trolley dash came at a hugely convenient time for the Blues, who pulled in a combined £35.6m for Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly. Getting £7m for Ethan Ampadu is some kind of genius.
2) RB Leipzig – £207.2m (€240.7m)
Biggest sale: Josko Gvardiol (to Manchester City, £77m)
The crowning of Gvardiol as the second-most expensive defender in football history finally pushed Leipzig past a £200m mark they were always looking at with relish this summer. The Germans have made a sodding fortune selling to the Premier League alone, with Liverpool and Chelsea coming for Dominik Szoboszlai and Christopher Nkunku respectively.
3) Brighton – £161.2m (€187.45m)
Biggest sale: Moises Caicedo (to Chelsea, £100m plus £15m add-ons)
The price for Alexis Mac Allister was out of their control but they were absolutely in the driving seat with Moises Caicedo, demanding a £100m fee right from the outset. After some meddling from Liverpool, the Blues eventually coughed up and Brighton pocketed a truly massive amount of money.
4) Southampton – £151.3m (€176.3m)
Biggest sale: Romeo Lavia (to Chelsea, £53m)
The Saints cycle keeps turning, especially with relegation, as Lavia, Tino Livramento and James Ward-Prowse have all secured instant Premier League returns at immense expense. Nathan Tella has also made a big move to Leverkusen. They might have made the top three had Che Adams’ £15million move to Wolves not fallen through.
5) Bayern Munich – £148.3m (€173.3m)
Biggest sale: Lucas Hernandez (to PSG, £38.5m)
The sale of Ryan Gravenberch to Liverpool made Bayern a late entry on to this list on a deadline day that went terribly wrong for Thomas Tuchel, leaving him without a replacement for the midfielder or Benjamin Pavard.
6) Wolves – £143.5m (€167.7m)
Biggest sale: Matheus Nunes (to Manchester City, £53m)
Wolves have sold or released pretty much the entirety of their first-choice central midfield in one summer, taking the Saudi Arabian money for Ruben Neves before Nunes made it clear he wanted to leave. Good money was banked for Nathan Collins too.
7) West Ham – £134.6m (€156.4m)
Biggest sale: Declan Rice (to Arsenal, £100m)
They have spent the bulk of this pretty wisely, with that Rice cash being supplemented with decent fees for Gianluca Scamacca and Nikola Vlasic.
8) Ajax – £134.6m (€156.4m)
Biggest sale: Mohammed Kudus (to West Ham, £38m)
Through Premier League sales alone, Ajax have made over £100m on sending players to London, including new West Ham pair Kudus and Edson Alvarez, as well as Jurrien Timber and Calvin Bassey.
9) Atalanta – £133m (€155.5m)
Biggest sale: Rasmus Hojlund (to Man Utd, £64m)
After making a fair sum on selling Jeremie Boga, Matteo Pessina, Ruslan Malinovskyi and Sam Lammers, Atalanta reeled in the big fish when Man Utd decided they wanted their own blonde, Scandinavian goal machine.
10) Rennes – £122.8m (€143.5m)
Biggest sale: Jeremy Doku (to Man City, £51.4m)
Rennes have made millions from Premier League clubs, with City signing Doku ahead of at least three domestic rivals, while Chelsea inevitably contributed to their kitty by taking Lesley Ugochukwu off their hands.
Read next: The 20 biggest transfers in the world in the 2023 summer transfer window