Top 5 biggest spenders in the transfer market since 2003
European giants have felt the crunch in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Clubs backed by the wealth of their silk-stocking owners have been quite happy to loosen their purse strings.
This has resulted in the transfer market getting inflated. Paying close to €100 million for a single player was unheard of almost 10 years back. These days, that is the amount a club normally shells out to make a marquee signing in the transfer market.
In this transfer window alone, we've seen two deals that cost over €100 million. Manchester City signed Jack Grealish from Aston Villa for €117.5 million. Chelsea have announced the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan for €115 million.
Almost all big teams that have navigated the Covid-19 crisis decently have broke the bank to sign players this summer. Without further ado, let's take a look at the biggest spenders in the transfer market since 2003.
#5 Manchester United - €1.82 billion
Despite the outcry against the Glazers for eating into the club's profits and not being adequately invested in its success, Manchester United have spent big. It's just that in the post Sir Alex Ferguson era up until Solskjaer took up the mantle, there was no direction to their expenditure.
That period was flush with expensive flops as the club continued to recruit players who didn't fit in.
Manchester United have broken the bank to sign players like Romelu Lukaku (€84.7 million), Angel Di Maria (€75 million) and Henrikh Mkhitaryan (€42 million). While all three are quality players, they failed to have impressive stints at Manchester United.
They also paid €105 million for Paul Pogba. Jadon Sancho was signed this summer for €85 million. Harry Maguire was signed for a fee that rose to €87 million.
While Pogba and Maguire have more or less proved their worth, the Red Devils will be hoping that Sancho will deliver on that promise.
Other big money signings include Bruno Fernandes (€63 million), Anthony Martial (€60 million) and Fred (€59 million). Manchester United have become a lot more cautious in the transfer market in recent times.
#4 Real Madrid - €1.91 billion
Real Madrid's Galactico project has definitely eaten into the club's finances. The obsession has now died down, with the club opting to take a more counseled approach in the transfer market.
Los Blancos have always had immense clout when it comes to attracting the biggest talents in the world. They've cashed in on it plenty of times. Eden Hazard is their most expensive player of all time. He was signed in the summer of 2019 for €115 million.
Gareth Bale was signed in 2013 for a sum of €101 million and Cristiano Ronaldo was signed for €94 million. Real Madrid have broken the world transfer record multiple times. They started doing it way back in 2001 when they signed Zinedine Zidane for a whopping €77.5 million.
Other expensive arrivals since 2003 include James Rodriguez (€74 million), Kaka (€67 million), Luka Jovic (€64 million), Luis Figo (€60 million) and Eder Militao (€50 million).