Man Utd, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona: Which clubs have spent the most in last 6 years? | OneFootball

A graph highlighting Europe’s biggest spenders in wages and transfer fees in the last six years shows why Barcelona were in such a financial mess.

A new study from Reddit user LessBrain shows the 20 clubs that have spent the most money between 2016-2021 in salaries paid to players and transfer amortisation – the annual cost of writing-off transfer fees.

It shows Barca are far and away the top spenders – above the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.

The Spanish side have found themselves in financial difficulties recently, with Joan Laporta, the current president of the club, admitting: “As of March 21, 2021, the debt was €1.35billion.”

That is down to astronomical wages as they continue to spend.

It means their total spend over the last six years is £2874 million – more than any club in Europe.

The nearest ‘challengers’ are PSG who stand at £2607m despite having the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar in their ranks.

Real Madrid are in third with Premier League’s Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool coming next. However, the latter are quite some far off their Premier League rivals having spent £2156m compared to Manchester City’s £2492m, Manchester United’s £2450m and Chelsea’s £2328m.

Check out the full chart below:

Europe’s Biggest Spenders in wages and amortisation in the last 6 years

All the usual suspects are up there but there are far more Premier League clubs than any other European league.

In fact, there are NINE Engish sides included in the graph with Arsenal (£1850m), Tottenham (£1269m), Everton (£1243m), Leicester (£1119m) and West Ham (£972m) all making the biggest spending chart.

That doesn’t even include this summer’s spending where Premier League clubs spent a record-breaking £1.9 billion.

Zal Udwadia, assistant director of Deloitte’s sports business group explained why spending in the Premier League was so high.

“You’ve got the return of fans in full force and new broadcast deals coming into play, you’ve really got clubs with high amounts of confidence and certainty going into this window.

“You’ve got a new broadcast cycle that’s starting, where the international portion of the rights have exceeded domestic rights for the first time, and that really again highlights the global appeal of the Premier League.

“The ‘big six’ clubs [are] spending to solidify or break into those four Champions League spots, you’ve got another group spending to try and break into European football and reap the rewards that brings, and you’ve got a whole tier of clubs who are spending just to stay in the Premier League, because the cost of relegation is so high.”