It is no surprise to see Europe’s richest clubs in the upper echelons of the Champions League spending charts for 2023/24, but five-time winners Barcelona occupying rock-bottom is certain to raise a few eyebrows.
- Using football database Transfermarkt, SportsLens have collated summer spending data for all 32 teams
- Barcelona’s commendable work in the free agent and loan markets saw them spend next-to-nothing
- PSG’s remarkable squad overhaul sees them top Champions League spending for 2023/24.
Champions League Spending 2023/24
Years of gross mismanagement and corruption under former presidents Sandro Rosell and latterly Josep Bartomeu has forced Barcelona to take drastic actions to secure their long-term future.
Returning president Joan Laporta has worked miracles to steady the ship, even if it meant selling off large chunks of the club’s merchandising and broadcasting rights – dubbed ‘economic levers‘ by the man himself.
For now, they are just about comfortable enough to operate on La Liga‘s financial breadline, with whom they have constantly locked horns with over the registration of new players and their bloated wage bill.
With the league imposing even tighter restrictions on last season’s champions over the summer, Barca were able to rely on their ever-present pull as a European heavyweight.
Five players arrived in Catalonia over the course of the window, amounting to a grand total of €3.4million.
That total was spent on just one of the five players, with Oriel Romeu’s return to his boyhood club from Girona the only deal involving a transfer fee.
Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez joined as free agents, while both Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo took significant pay cuts in order to facilitate season-long loans from Atletico Madrid and Manchester City respectively.
With Barcelona taking a dire economic situation in their stride with cute, clever deals over the summer, they rank as the lowest spenders in this season’s Champions League.
This is made all the more improbable when you consider minnows such as Young Boys, Royal Antwerp and Champions League debutants Union Berlin all feature this year.
At the other end of the spectrum, PSG’s youthful evolution saw them bring in 14 players over the course of the window for a total expenditure of €349.5m.
The Parisians often desperate pursuit of the biggest prize in club football has seen a succession of world-beating managers come and go, and former Barcelona treble winner Luis Enrique has been tasked with leading a vastly inexperienced side.
Their summer spending amounts to over €100m more than the next-nearest – 2022/23’s champions Manchester City. Fellow Premier League sides Arsenal – who feature for the first time in seven years – and Manchester United follow closely in third and fourth.
It should come as no surprise to see four of the top 10 spenders in this year’s Champions League hailing from the Premier League, given the English top-flight once again decimated the singe-window record.
Biggest Spenders in the Champions League 2023/24
- PSG – €349.5m
- Manchester City – €241.1m
- Arsenal – €234.9m
- Manchester United – €206.7m
- Bayern Munich – €155m
- Newcastle United – €153.2m
- RB Leipzig – €152.5m
- Real Madrid – €129.5m
- AC Milan – €114m
- Napoli – €104m
- Benfica – €69m
- Inter Milan – €64.2m
- Lens – €63.9m
- Borussia Dortmund – €62m
- PSV – €53.5m
- Lazio – €37.2m
- Feyenoord – €37.2m
- Atletico Madrid – €33.7m
- Porto – €33.4m
- Sevilla – €32m
- Union Berlin – €32m
- RB Salzburg – €30.3m
- Galatasaray – €29.2m
- Celtic – €22.3m
- Braga – €17.8m
- Real Sociedad – €17.4m
- Red Star Belgrade – €12.4m
- Shakhtar Donetsk – €12m
- Royal Antwerp – €10.5m
- Copenhagen – €8m
- Young Boys – €3.9m
- Barcelona – €3.4m
Related Football Content
- Football Betting Tips 2023 – Latest Picks & Football Tips
- Football Predictions October 2023
- Football Accumulator Tips 2023 – Latest Acca Betting Tips
- Best Correct Score Tipsters on Telegram & Social Media 2023
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
