15 managers with the highest transfer spend in football history, ft Mourinho & Guardiola | OneFootball

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With the riches of the footballing world ever-growing, the process of unearthing an academy prospect and developing them into a world-beater may slowly become a dying art. Instead of persisting with academy prospects, clubs often delve in the market and splash the cash on the finest exploits possible.

Financial backing is obvious imperative to how teams perform once the summer and winter windows open for business and without the mountains of cash behind them, it is possible that some of the sport’s greatest ever tacticians may have not achieved nearly half of the success they are credited for today.

The likes of Zinedine Zidane and Sir Alex Ferugson narrowly miss out from being selected which just goes to show clever spendings can still amount to huge levels of success, both domestically and on the European stage.

So, which managers have been the biggest spenders during their managerial tenures? We used Transfermarkt, who have crunched the numbers thanks to their extensive database, to muster up a list. And there are some interesting inclusions and omissions – so, read on to find out if your club’s coach is known as one of footballer’s heavy spenders!

15 Claudio Ranieri - €909.83m (Six titles won)

Ranieri will forever live in Premier League folklore for that league-defining campaign where he took heavy outsiders Leicester City to the summit, fending off the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, who all secured Champions League qualification in 2015/16. While he managed the unthinkable with a team made up of lesser-known talent, he has also had his fair share of big-money moves, too, having spent just shy of €1bn during his time as a manager.

14 Rafael Benitez - €915.25m (13 titles won)

Having spent time at the helm of 11 different clubs, Benitez has overseen a grand total of 115 new arrivals. The Spaniard built one of Liverpool’s greatest Premier League sides during his time in charge but was working on a shoe-string budget for much of his six-year Merseyside stint. Owing to that, a £20.2m move for Fernando Torres – who became the club’s record signing at the time – was his biggest spend at the club.

13 Jorge Jesus - €919.82m (18 titles won)

With 138 players coming through the door during his tenure at eight clubs, the 69-year-old is expected to find himself on this list. He has become a managerial phenomenon in Portugal since starting out in 1990 at Amora, having gone on to manage the likes of Benfica and Sporting. Over the summer, he was re-appointed Al-Hilal head coach and with the riches of the Middle East looking to stamp their authority of the world of football – highlighted by their capture of Neymar – this overall spend could certainly rise.

12 Arsene Wenger - €970.75m (20 titles won)

The Frenchman is typically involved in discussions of whom the best Premier League manager to ever live is, and he has his hefty outlay to thank. Impressively, Wenger has won 20 titles, most notably three Premier Leagues during his time at Arsenal, during his time on the other side of the white line and so spent very wisely. Times have changed and transfer fees are skyrocketed, however, so it would be interested to see how the likes of Wenger would fare in the modern game.

11 Unai Emery - €1.03bn (11 titles won)

Securing European football for the current campaign thanks to their impressive league finish in 2022/23, Aston Villa boss Emery was given more financial freedom to bolster his squad over the summer. But he certainly hasn’t been short of cash during his time at previous clubs, especially at north London-based outfit Arsenal. In his first two seasons at the helm, the Spaniard did not spend frugally with over £200m being splashed on new signings which, unfortunately, resulted in little success.

10 Jurgen Klopp - €1.13bn (12 titles won)

The German tactician has arguably one of Liverpool’s greatest having achieved a flurry of success since taking post in 2015, including a Premier League and a Champions League title. He has spent fairly big, however. Over the course of his four-club managerial career, he has sanctioned 85 new signings and spent €1.13bn. Klopp has been tasked with rubbing shoulders with Manchester City in recent years and has done a respectable job, despite not having the same level of money to part with.

9 Mauricio Pochettino - €1.15bn (Three titles won)

Having won a mere three titles across his managerial career, Chelsea boss Pochettino will look back and ponder where his money should have been invested instead, seeing as he has spent in excess of €1bn. And then you remember his most recent outlay of £115m on Moises Caicedo, and it begins to make sense. With the west Londoner’s turning into a free-spending machine of late with Todd Boehly on board, you can expect that figure to rise tenfold during his tutelage.

8 Antonio Conte - €1.17bn (Nine titles won)

Conte is currently some much-needed downtime away from football after his sour stint in north London with Tottenham Hotspur, but it cannot be downplayed how brilliant a football manager he is. But his mouth-watering spend begs the question: how much of his success actually boils down to his expertise? He has spent time at seven different clubs since calling it a day on his playing days and has overseen deals for a total of 93 players since. There are only nine titles on his CV to show for, however.

7 Thomas Tuchel - €1.19bn (13 titles won)

Now in charge of Bayern Munich, Tuchel also took the reins of Chelsea in 2021 and enjoyed a Champions League triumph just months after he entered the job. To prepare for the 2022-23 campaign, Tuchel had spent over £250m on new faces which set a new British record – and maybe even a precedent for those around them – for most spent in a singular transfer window. That, of course, included £97.5m being spent on Romelu Lukaku - but the less said about that saga, the better.

6 Manuel Pellegrini - €1.2bn (Seven titles won)

The former Manchester City man was in post when the club began to transform into a well-oiled trophy-winning machine. Following on from Sheikh Mansour’s money-inspired takeover, City were now able to match their rivals and spend big – yet wisely – in the market. The Chilean became somewhat of a journeyman in the football manager sphere as has welcomed 96 new players during his 11-club stint as head coach, though it’s doubtful that any club were able to mirror what the English club were spending during his presence.

5 Diego Simeone - €1.21bn (Nine titles won)

Currently managing at Atlético Madrid, Simeone has little to show for his exuberant spending tendencies with just nine titles accrued over an outlay of €1.21bn. Having the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona to fend off is, of course, a tall order, and he may have shot himself in the foot staying in the Spanish capital for so long, but he cannot blame financial constraints for his poor (in the grand scheme of things) trophy haul.

4 Massimiliano Allegri - €1.4bn (14 titles won)

Despite his two-year hiatus from management between 2019 and 2021, Allegri has been Juventus’ head coach since 2014, though he did spend time at other clubs prior to his illustrious stint at the Old Lady. With 14 titles under his belt, the Italian has welcomed 113 new faces to his respective sides since he turned his hand to management, spending a whopping €1.4bn.

3 Carlo Ancelotti - €1.69bn (25 titles won)

Commonly known as ‘Don Carlo’, his moniker certainly transcends into his transfer window activity seeing as he is in the top three managers of all-time in terms of his overall expenditure. The seasoned 64-year-old has been at the helm of an array of clubs, ranging from Chelsea, AC Milan, Bayern Munich all the way down to Everton. He is currently in charge of European behemoths Real Madrid and so has ample money at his disposal. The same can be loosely said about the entirety of his managerial career as he has spent nearly €1.7bn on 108 players.

2 Jose Mourinho - €1.86bn (27 titles won)

The animated head honcho has been in charge at a host of top European clubs - most notably Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United – and has enjoyed levels of success at almost every club, amounting to 27 titles. Even at Porto, who are not in the same echelons as the aforementioned trio, the decorated manager turned them into a force to be reckoned with. To help with that, he has spent an eye-watering figure of €1.86bn on 118 players across the nine clubs he has been in charge of. Like him or not, there’s no denying that he will end his career as one of the best managers to ever grace the game.

1 Pep Guardiola - €2.04bn (36 titles won)

Exceeding the €2bn threshold is Manchester City boss Guardiola, though his eye-catching spend extends to his respective stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, too. Across the five clubs in which he has managed at, the charismatic Spaniard has picked up 36 titles along the way and so you could say it has been money well spent. Spending big should always result in trophies and in this particular case, it has. The same cannot be said for all transfer market heavy-hitters, mind.