Manchester United‘s current squad is the most expensive ever assembled ahead of Chelsea and Manchester City, according to new research from the CIES Football Observatory.

Released on Wednesday, CIES’ latest research shows United have spent €1.15billion (£989) on their current squad, with just under £400m gone on transfer fees since Erik ten Hag took over in May of last year.

The figures tallied up by CIES include add-ons regardless of effective payments.

The Dutchman signed Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia in his first summer at Old Trafford for a combined outlay of over £120m.

He also sanctioned the £85m purchase of Antony, making the Brazilian the third-most expensive player in United’s history after Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku.

Manchester United signed Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta for £72m this summer

Erik ten Hag has also added Mason Mount (left) from Chelsea in a deal worth £60m and signed Andre Onana (right) from Inter Milan for £47m

This summer, United have spent £72m on Rasmus Hojlund and have signed Mason Mount from Chelsea in a deal worth up to £60m, while Andre Onana joined from Inter Milan for £47m.

The Blues are close behind United having spent £975m on players since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over from Roman Abramovich 18 months ago.

Last month, the Blues signed Moises Caicedo from Brighton in a deal worth a British record £115m, breaking the £105m record they had set in January when they signed Enzo Fernandez.

City round out the top three, having spent on £900m on assembling their squad, with just under a quarter of the sum invested on four summer signings this year – Josko Gvardiol, Matheus Nunes, Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic.

Significantly, City have got a much better return on their investment, which has delivered three consecutive Premier League titles and a historic treble last season.

Paris Saint-Germain are the only non-Premier League to squeeze into the top five.

The Ligue 1 champions’ squad is worth a combined £860m, but the Parisians have spent more than anyone else on their attack with £480m invested on strikers.

Chelsea have spent almost £1bn on players since Todd Boehly took over 18 months ago

The Blues set a new British transfer record after signing Moises Caicedo for £115m in August

Arsenal signed Declan Rice for a club record £105m this summer

WHERE DO PL CLUBS RANK IN THE MOST EXPENSIVE?

According to data from the CIES Football Observatory

1. Manchester United – £989m

2. Chelsea – £975m

3. Manchester City – £896m

5. Arsenal – £718m

6. Tottenham – £713m

7. Liverpool – £661m

9. Newcastle – £568m

10. West Ham – £434m

11. Aston Villa – £418m

14. Everton – £359m

20. Nottingham Forest – £313m

22. Wolves – £312m

24. Bournemouth – £296m

28. Crystal Palace – £235m

30. Fulham – £210

35. Brighton – £194m

38. Brentford – £187m

41. Burnley – £180m

53. Sheffield United – £128m

* Luton don’t feature in the CIES top-100 list

By comparison, Liverpool have forked out more than anyone else on goalkeepers at £63m, while United and Real Madrid lead the market in defenders and midfielders with outlays of £330m and £385m respectively.

The Spanish giants rank eighth in CIES table with a £610m investment in their squad, which includes the deal worth up to £115m to sign Jude Bellingham this summer.

PSG and Real Madrid are the only two European clubs in the top-10, which is otherwise dominated by the Premier League with Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool in fifth, sixth and seventh place respectively.

The Gunners have spent £718m on their squad, including a club record £105m on Declan Rice this summer, while Spurs have forked out £713m.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have invested just north of £660m and overhauled their midfield this summer to the tune of a £150m investment.

Newcastle and West Ham round up the top-10, with Aston Villa 11th ahead of Bayern Munich.

All 19 Premier League clubs bar Luton feature in the top-100, which includes clubs from 19 different leagues.

Newly-promoted Sheffield United and Burnley are the lowest-spending Premier League clubs with £128m and £180m respectively.

Somewhat more surprisingly, high-flying Brighton and Brentford are just ahead of them with outlays below the £200m mark.

Everton, meanwhile, have spent almost £360m to assemble their current squad, despite only narrowly avoiding relegation last season.

Serie A and LaLiga have 15 and 12 teams in the top-100, with Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga represented by 11 clubs each.

Juventus are the biggest spenders in Italy with an investment of £407m, followed by reigning Serie A champions Napoli at £337m.

 

Jude Bellingham signed for Real Madrid in a deal worth up to £115m this summer

AC Milan and Inter Milan follows, with total outlays of £285m and £220m respectively.

In Spain, meanwhile, Atletico Madrid are a distant second behind their city rival, with a total squad cost of £332m.

Barcelona are third with a total investment of £322m.

Unsurprisingly, the Saudi Pro League is the most represented among non European leagues with four clubs.

Of that quartet, at 18th on the list with a total investment of £329m Al Hilal are the biggest spender of any club outside European football’s traditional big five leagues.

The Saudi outfit signed Neymar and Malcolm from PSG this summer, while recruiting Aleksandar Mitrovic from Fulham and Ruben Neves from Wolves.