Benfica, Ajax, Porto top three: 21st century net spend table has zero Premier League clubs
These 20 clubs are the best in the world when it comes to buying players and flipping them for profit. Here is the ranking of the clubs with the lowest net spend since the summer of 2000.
Figures are via Transfermarkt, which deals in Euros. The 20 biggest net spenders are here…
20) Atalanta (Italy)
Expenditure: €806.91m
Income: €1.03bn
Net spend: €224.71m
Only five of the top 29 to receive over €1bn this century and Atalanta are the only club outside of the top four to do so.
19) Gremio (Brazil)
Expenditure: €114.11m
Income: €346.07m
Net spend: €231.96m
Gremio broke the €100m spending mark last summer, spending on four new recruits and then another six in January.
18) Empoli (Italy)
Expenditure: €115.11m
Income: €350.19m
Net spend: €235.07m
Empoli’s record sale is Guglielmo Vicario, who joined Tottenham for €20million in the 2023 summer transfer window. They would be 22nd without that transfer.
17) Corinthians (Brazil)
Expenditure: €235.73m
Income: €485.67m
Net spend: €249.94m
The second of seven South American teams in the top 20.
16) AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands)
Expenditure: €162.34m
Income: €417.36m
Net spend: €255.02m
Dutch clubs are pretty good at this.
15) PSV (Netherlands)
Expenditure: €436.82m
Income: €702.78m
Net spend: € m
PSV have made big money from the sales of Hirving Lozano, Cody Gakpo, Memphis Depay, Noni Madueke and Ibrahim Sangare.
14) Boca Juniors (Argentina)
Expenditure: €243.07m
Income: €525.22m
Net spend: €282.15m
Some great players have played for Boca over the years. Carlos Tevez was sold twice for over €10m.
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13) Internacional (Brazil)
Expenditure: €141.13m
Income: €440.02m
Net spend: €298.89m
Their profit would be even greater if Leandro Damiao joined Spurs.
12) SC Braga (Portugal)
Expenditure: €138.94m
Income: €454.75m
Net spend: €315.81m
Braga have signed and sold a combined 1398 players this century.
11) Sao Paulo (Brazil)
Expenditure: €179.60m
Income: €504.86m
Net spend: €325.26m
Sao Paulo received a world-record €31.5m from Real Betis for Denilson back in 1998.
10) Udinese (Italy)
Expenditure: €548.36m
Income: €878.37m
Net spend: €330.01
Udinese’s have been very active, signing 1007 players and selling 1009.
9) River Plate (Argentina)
Expenditure: €276.35m
Income: €621.69m
Net spend: €345.34m
These South Americans know what they’re doing, don’t they?
8) Santos (Brazil)
Expenditure: €145.34m
Income: €494.55m
Net spend: €394.21m
Neymar. Rodrygo. Robinho. This club love a techy winger.
7) Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)
Expenditure: €120.48m
Income: €481.01m
Net spend: €360.53m
Fair play to Dinamo Zagreb, who have a great record when it comes to developing and selling youth players.
6) Red Bull Salzburg (Austria)
Expenditure: €303.98m
Income: €694.92m
Net spend: €390.94m
We all know about Salzburg and their proven philosophy.
5) Sporting (Portugal)
Expenditure: €578m
Income: €978.21m
Net spend: €400.21m
The sale of Manuel Ugarte to PSG was not enough to leapfrog Bruno Fernandes as Sporting’s record sale.
4) Lille (France)
Expenditure: €502.76m
Income: €1bn
Net spend: €500.24m
Nicolas Pepe and Victor Osimhen brought in €155m alone.
3) Ajax (Netherlands)
Expenditure: €694.91m
Income: €1.33bn
Net spend: €636.07m
Ajax probably have the best reputation for selling players but they are third best when it comes to net spend.
2) Porto (Portugal)
Expenditure: €832.44m
Income: €1.61bn
Net spend: €779.80m
Being second comes down to consistently getting between €25-50m for their best players. Otavio to Al Nassr and Nico Gonzalez to Manchester City for 60 million euros are their record sales.
1) Benfica (Portugal)
Expenditure: €982.29m
Income: €1.87bn
Net spend: €887.31m
Benfica are pretty good at selling players for profit.
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