CIES Football Observatory has named Manchester City and Manchester United as the club with the two most expensive football squads.
The Manchester clubs have a squad worth over £1billion and lead the table of expensive squads ahead of the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Their top ranking comes after a busy summer transfer window that saw both teams add to their already expensive squads.
Pep Guardiola’s side, who added £100m Jack Grealish to their squad this summer, have an estimated squad worth £1.28billion.
The Cityzens are followed closely on the table by their local rivals Manchester United whose squad is valued at £1.21billion. The Red Devils had a busy summer and were one of the highest spenders this summer after signing Cristiano Ronaldo (worth around £20m), Raphael Varane for £42 million and Jadon Sancho for £73 million.
Third on the list in the CIES report was Chelsea, who have been investing heavily in their squad themselves – having brought in Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan for club-record £98 million. Thomas Tuchel’s side are valued at around £808m, slightly ahead of European heavyweights Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
The Spanish club were ranked fourth despite losing starman Lionel Messi to PSG this summer and are worth around £764m while the Bundesliga came fifth with a squad valued at £759 million.
Liverpool are sixth on the list with a squad value of £741 million. The Reds are ahead of Real Madrid who occupy seventh place.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side who saw a couple of their big names like Rafael Varane, Sergio Ramos and Martin Odegaard leave in recent seasons have a squad valued at £689 million.
Paris Saint-Germain (eighth), Borussia Dortmund (ninth) and Atletico Madrid (tenth) make up the top ten.
Although the French side brought in big names like Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos and, Georginio Wijnaldum, Achraf Hakimi Gianluigi Donnarumma this summer, their squad is valued at £689 million.
Juventus(11th) valued at £527 million just miss out on a place in the top ten, while Bundesliga side RB Leipzig (12th) valued at £503 million come next ahead of Premier League sides Tottenham (£484m) and Arsenal (£480m).
THE TOP TEN HIGHEST VALUED SQUADS IN EUROPE
1) MANCHESTER CITY – £1.28bn
2) MANCHESTER UNITED – £1.21bn
3) CHELSEA – £808m
4) BARCELONA – £764m
5) BAYERN MUNICH – £759m
6) LIVERPOOL – £741m
7) REAL MADRID – £722m
8) PSG – £689m
9) BORUSSIA DORTMUND – £586m
10) ATLETICO MADRID – £565m
