Latest data from Swiss specialist CIES reveals each club’s net spend over the past decade
Leeds United have the tenth highest net spend in world football since the Covid-19 pandemic, new data from the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) has revealed.
The Whites earned promotion under Marcelo Bielsa in 2020, securing the Championship title in a pandemic-disrupted end to the season before beginning life back in the Premier League behind closed doors.
The three seasons of top flight football that followed saw the club strengthen their squad to compete with big spending rivals, and initially the plan bore fruit. Leeds would land a top ten finish under Bielsa in their first season before decline set in, with successive managers unable to prevent relegation at the third time of asking
A total of €272 million (£234m) was spent in vein to keep the Whites in the top flight, with Rodrigo Moreno, Raphinha and an ill fated move for Jean-Kévin Augustin seeing the club spend around half of that total in the first season alone.
A second season in the Premier League saw reduced spending, though big money moves for Daniel James and Junior Firpo were
still actioned. Last season saw the arrivals of Brenden Aaronson, Georginio Rutter and Luis Sinisterra among others, although the sales of Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips finally allowed the club to offset some of their outlay.
Those three years took Leeds’ net spend into the top ten of world football, above the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona, all of whom were able to make significantly more than the Whites in player sales.
The data from CIES also tracks net spend across the last decade, with three clubs – Manchester United, Chelsea and PSG – losing over one billion pounds from player transactions since 2014.