Chelsea 1st, Liverpool 15th - Top 20 clubs with biggest transfer incomes across last 10 seasons
It’s been an incredibly slow January transfer window so far with clubs across Europe unable or unwilling to fork out big transfer fees. The winter window is notoriously quieter than the summer with clubs holding off until the end of the season to complete major moves when they can budget accordingly based on league position and revenue. Vitor Roque’s €40m move from Atletico Paranaense to Barcelona remains the highest transfer fee paid this month with loan moves proving popular like Jadon Sancho’s return to Borussia Dortmund from Manchester United.
Transfer fees have exploded across the last decade with the record broken on several occasions but nothing has eclipsed Neymar’s move from Barcelona to PSG for €222.00m in 2017. Inflation, increases in broadcast revenues and investment from wealthy benefactors are all factors behind the escalation in transfer fees. Unsurprisingly, three English clubs - Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United - lead the way in spending across the last decade but the clubs receiving the most income from player sales over the last ten seasons is fascinating.
Top 20 clubs with highest income from player sales since 2014/15
The €2.33 billion that Chelsea have spent on signings across the last ten seasons means they’re the biggest spenders, but they’ve also received the highest income from selling players. Chelsea have raked in an incredible €1.32b from outgoings since the 2014/15 campaign. Remarkably, Chelsea don’t have any players in the top ten record sales list with Eden Hazard just missing out - the Belgian’s €115m move to Real Madrid in 2019 is Chelsea’s record sale. Chelsea’s academy is renowned as one of the best in Europe and it’s proved lucrative with Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guéhi all in their top 20 sales. While Chelsea’s academy talents are usually sold because they aren’t first-team regulars, Benfica and Monaco - second and third on the list - thrive at providing a pathway to youngsters before selling them for massive profits.
Portuguese clubs have enjoyed unbelievable success at developing academy talents with Porto (12th) and Sporting CP (16th) joining Benfica in the top 20. All three also feature in the top five clubs with the best net transfer balance across the last ten seasons, Benfica are top (€648m), Sporting are fourth (€381m) and Porto fifth (€379m). Benfica have amassed €1.21b in player sales across the last ten seasons with João Félix, Enzo Fernández, Darwin Núñez, Rúben Dias and Ederson amongst a plethora of high-profile departures.
Like Portugal, France has also been a hotbed for young talent with Monaco leading the way - Lyon, Lille and PSG also feature in the top 20. Monaco received the 2nd biggest transfer fee in history when they sold Kylian Mbappé to PSG for €180m in 2017 but he’s not their only high-profile departure. Aurélien Tchouaméni, James Rodríguez and Thomas Lemar have all departed for fees in excess of €70m while Anthony Martial, Benjamin Mendy, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho and Youri Tielemans have all completed big-money moves to the English Premier League. Juventus and Barcelona make up the top five as the other two clubs to have generated more than €1b. Only one club in the top 20 list currently plays outside the top-flight in their respective country - Southampton. They implemented a successful business model of selling to bigger Premier League clubs with their top ten sales all to fellow English clubs. Four of those players were sold to Liverpool with Virgil van Djik the most high-profile and Roméo Lavia joined Chelsea last summer for €62.1m following their relegation from the Premier League.
Manchester United, Arsenal and Bayern Munich outside top 20
There’s some glaring omissions from the top 20 list with Manchester United, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Tottenham the biggest names. RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg are famed for producing youngsters but they both just miss out. Bayern rank 25th after receiving €606m in sales with Lucas Hernández, Robert Lewandowski, Douglas Luiz and Ryan Gravenberch their biggest departures. Manchester United notoriously struggle to offload players with their high wages deterring potential suitors or leaving United to sacrifice a higher transfer fee to get unwanted players off their books. United rank 34th and they have the worst net transfer balance (€1.24b) of any club with Romelu Lukaku their record sale across this time period. Arsenal have fared even worse than their rivals in accumulating revenue through player sales as they sit 43rd.
- Date of birth/Age:
- Feb 5, 1992 (32)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Al-Hilal SFC
- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2025
- Position:
- Left Winger
- Market Value:
- €45.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Mar 25, 2000 (24)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Borussia Dortmund
- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2024
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- Left Winger
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- €25.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Feb 28, 2005 (19)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- FC Barcelona
- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2031
- Position:
- Centre-Forward
- Market Value:
- €40.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Jan 7, 1991 (33)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Retired
- Contract until:
- -
- Position:
- Left Winger
- Market Value:
- -
- Date of birth/Age:
- Jan 10, 1999 (25)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Manchester United
- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2028
- Position:
- Attacking Midfield
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- €40.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Jul 13, 2000 (23)
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- Crystal Palace
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- Jun 30, 2026
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- €38.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Jan 17, 2001 (23)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Chelsea FC
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- Jun 30, 2032
- Position:
- Central Midfield
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- €80.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Jun 24, 1999 (24)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Liverpool FC
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- Jun 30, 2028
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- Centre-Forward
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- €70.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- May 14, 1997 (27)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Manchester City
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- Jun 30, 2027
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- Date of birth/Age:
- Aug 17, 1993 (30)
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- Current club:
- Manchester City
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- Jun 30, 2026
- Position:
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- Date of birth/Age:
- Dec 20, 1998 (25)
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- Current club:
- Paris Saint-Germain
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- Jun 30, 2024
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- Date of birth/Age:
- Jan 27, 2000 (24)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Real Madrid
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- Jun 30, 2028
- Position:
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- €90.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Jul 12, 1991 (32)
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- Current club:
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- Jun 30, 2025
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- Nov 12, 1995 (28)
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- Current club:
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- Jun 30, 2027
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- €12.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Dec 5, 1995 (28)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Manchester United
- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2024
- Position:
- Centre-Forward
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- €10.00m
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- Jul 17, 1994 (29)
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- Jun 30, 2025
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- €2.00m
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- Aug 10, 1994 (29)
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- Jun 30, 2026
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- €80.00m
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- Oct 23, 1993 (30)
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- Jun 30, 2026
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- €35.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- May 7, 1997 (27)
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- Aston Villa
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- Jun 30, 2027
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- Market Value:
- €25.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Jul 8, 1991 (32)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
- Liverpool FC
- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2025
- Position:
- Centre-Back
- Market Value:
- €32.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Jan 6, 2004 (20)
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- Current club:
- Chelsea FC
- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2030
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- Market Value:
- €40.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Feb 14, 1996 (28)
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- Current club:
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2028
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- Left-Back
- Market Value:
- €45.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Aug 21, 1988 (35)
- Nat.:
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- Jun 30, 2026
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- Centre-Forward
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- €15.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- May 9, 1998 (26)
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- Jun 30, 2026
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- €70.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- May 16, 2002 (22)
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- Current club:
- Liverpool FC
- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2028
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- Market Value:
- €35.00m
- Date of birth/Age:
- Nov 10, 1999 (24)
- Nat.:
- Current club:
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- Contract until:
- Jun 30, 2024
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- €30.00m
- Total Market Value:
- €730.25m
- Competition:
- Premier League
- Position:
- 8.
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- Erik ten Hag
- Squad size:
- 26
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- Willy Kambwala
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- €1.04bn
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- LaLiga
- Position:
- 1.
- Manager:
- Carlo Ancelotti
- Squad size:
- 24
- Latest Transfer:
- Kepa Arrizabalaga
- Total Market Value:
- €921.40m
- Competition:
- Premier League
- Position:
- 3.
- Manager:
- Jürgen Klopp
- Squad size:
- 28
- Latest Transfer:
- Ryan Gravenberch
- Total Market Value:
- €1.12bn
- Competition:
- Premier League
- Position:
- 2.
- Manager:
- Mikel Arteta
- Squad size:
- 25
- Latest Transfer:
- David Raya
- Total Market Value:
- €928.30m
- Competition:
- Premier League
- Position:
- 6.
- Manager:
- Mauricio Pochettino
- Squad size:
- 30
- Latest Transfer:
- Alfie Gilchrist
- Total Market Value:
- €360.75m
- Competition:
- Liga Portugal
- Position:
- 2.
- Manager:
- Roger Schmidt
- Squad size:
- 24
- Latest Transfer:
- Gianluca Prestianni
- Total Market Value:
- €347.20m
- Competition:
- Ligue 1
- Position:
- 2.
- Manager:
- Adi Hütter
- Squad size:
- 24
- Latest Transfer:
- Thilo Kehrer
- Total Market Value:
- €463.70m
- Competition:
- Bundesliga
- Position:
- 5.
- Manager:
- Edin Terzic
- Squad size:
- 29
- Latest Transfer:
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- Total Market Value:
- €1.02bn
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- Ligue 1
- Position:
- 1.
- Manager:
- Luis Enrique
- Squad size:
- 30
- Latest Transfer:
- Gabriel Moscardo
- Total Market Value:
- €329.30m
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- Position:
- 1.
- Manager:
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- Squad size:
- 26
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- Koba Koindredi
- Total Market Value:
- €284.60m
- Competition:
- Liga Portugal
- Position:
- 3.
- Manager:
- Sérgio Conceição
- Squad size:
- 28
- Latest Transfer:
- Otávio
- Total Market Value:
- €238.80m
- Competition:
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- Position:
- 6.
- Manager:
- Pierre Sage
- Squad size:
- 28
- Latest Transfer:
- Saïd Benrahma
- Total Market Value:
- €249.50m
- Competition:
- Ligue 1
- Position:
- 4.
- Manager:
- Paulo Fonseca
- Squad size:
- 25
- Latest Transfer:
- Andrej Ilic
- Total Market Value:
- €490.20m
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- Serie A
- Position:
- 4.
- Manager:
- Paolo Montero
- Squad size:
- 27
- Latest Transfer:
- Carlos Alcaraz