Due to a new television deal, in recent years more and more clubs in the Premier League are willing to spend significant amounts to attract their desired players to their teams. According to Transfermark.co.uk data, over the past three seasons, clubs in the Premier League have spent 1 billion 170 million pounds more on acquiring players than they have received from selling their own players. Taking into account the results of transfers and sales of eighteen clubs that played in all three Premier League seasons, Eurofootbal.lt presents you with five clubs whose balance in the transfer market over these years is the worst. 5. West Ham United Spent: 72.84 million pounds; Earned: 8.98 million pounds; Balance: -63.86 million pounds. West Ham United is on this list mainly because they have only sold three players in three years, earning less than 10 million pounds for them. The team also did not spend huge sums, but for their three most expensive signings Dimitri Payet, Enner Valencia, and Andy Carroll, they spent just over ten million pounds each (the first two players cost 10.5 million pounds each, and Carroll 12.25 million pounds). 4. Liverpool Spent: 220.24 million pounds; Earned: 151.21 million pounds; Balance: -69.03 million pounds. Liverpool has been very active in the transfer market in the past two years. The club sold one of the team's leaders for a huge sum (Luis Suarez last year, Raheem Sterling this year), and bought several cheaper players to replace them. The club earned the most when they sold Luis Suarez to Barcelona for 56.7 million pounds. The most expensive purchase of the past three seasons for the team was Christian Benteke. They paid 32.55 million pounds to acquire him from Aston Villa. 3. Arsenal Spent: 131.02 million pounds; Earned: 30.27 million pounds; Balance: -100.75 million pounds. The London team ranks fifth in terms of the amount spent on acquiring players and fifth in terms of the least money earned from selling players belonging to the team. Considering this, it is clear that the team is no longer selling its main players, but also not spending as much as they could. Over the three seasons, Arsene Wenger spent over ten million pounds on six players, with Alexis Sanchez (29.75 million pounds) and Mesut Ozil (35 million pounds) being the most expensive purchases. The players sold were usually youth team players or players who did not establish themselves in the Arsenal club. The only more significant loss in the past three years was the sale of Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona for 13.3 million pounds. 2. Manchester United Spent: 283.79 million pounds; Earned: 102.77 million pounds; Balance: -181.02 million pounds. Out of this total, David Moyes spent just over 50 million during his tenure, with all other transactions belonging to Louis Van Gaal. In his first year as United manager, Van Gaal spent almost a hundred million pounds more on purchases than the club earned from selling players, but this year the situation was somewhat more stable, with a transfer balance of just 27 million pounds in the negative. Angel Di Maria became both the most expensive purchase of the club in recent years and the biggest sale. They paid 52.5 million pounds to acquire him from Real Madrid and had to settle for 44.1 million pounds when selling him to Paris Saint-Germain a year later. 1. Manchester City Spent: 301.82 million pounds; Earned: 72.02 million pounds; Balance: -229.80 million pounds. The team that spent the most was the other Manchester team. City spent at least 50 million pounds more on their purchases each season than the club managed to earn by selling their current players. Over the three years, the Manchester City paid over ten million pounds for over ten players, while only receiving such a sum for players twice. The team spent the most this summer, paying respective sums of 43.75 and 51.8 million pounds for Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne. Other facts about Premier League transfers: - Out of the eighteen teams that played all three recent Premier League seasons, only Southampton managed to have a positive balance in transfers. They earned 3.42 million pounds more than they spent on acquiring new players over this period; - The most money earned from player sales was by Chelsea - 185.31 million pounds; - Chelsea was also the most active team in the player market. The club paid for player acquisitions 23 times, while the players they sold added to their account 17 times; - Stoke City spent the least on player acquisitions over the three seasons. They paid 26.32 million pounds for acquisitions; - Crystal Palace earned the least money from player sales - just 5.78 million pounds; - This summer, three of Aston Villa's most expensive purchases were from the French league, and all three players' names were Jordan; - Spending large sums pays off - all five of the most spending clubs are in the top ranks. The only team among these clubs to break through is Leicester City, which only played two out of three seasons in the Premier League, so they were not in contention for this list.
Tautvydas Sakalauskas
