Ranking the 50 most expensively assembled squads in world football in 2025-26 | OneFootball

Chelsea boast the most expensively assembled squad in world football when it comes to transfer fees, according to industry estimates.

Enzo Maresca’s Blues squad is one of just two – both from the Premier League – that have cost over €1billion to put together, as stated by Transfermarkt.

That makes this Chelsea squad the most expensively assembled in football history, whether or not you include add-ons in that.

Manchester City are the other club to have broken the €1billion mark. Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham complete an all-English top six, and Premier League clubs account for roughly half (12) of the top 25.

Alongside clubs you might expect to see, such as Newcastle in the top 10, there are others like Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford that are flexing their financial muscles, competing with giant clubs from the continent when it comes to transfer spending and providing evidence of just how much money there is in the Premier League.

La Liga champions Barcelona, for example, are only 16th in the list – having spent less money on building Hansi Flick’s squad than clubs including West Ham, Atletico Madrid, Al-Hilal and Forest. It’s also notable that PSG and Real Madrid have spent less on their squad than Tottenham.

Europe’s five major leagues account for 24 of the top 25, with Saudi Pro League champions Al-Hilal – home to big-money signings Darwin Nunez, Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic – the only exception.

Towards the bottom of the top 50, you can find several former giants of European football, including Benfica, Porto and Marseille, as well as Russian heavyweights Zenit St Petersburg.

Here is the top 50, ranked in order of their squad cost according to Transfermarkt.

1. Chelsea – €1.18billion 2. Manchester City – €1.03billion 3. Liverpool – €991.95million 4. Manchester United – €945.52million 5. Arsenal – €924.3million 6. Tottenham – €871.2million 7. PSG – €804.32million 8. Real Madrid – €755.5million 9. Newcastle United – €729.25million 10. Juventus – €490.35million 11. Atletico Madrid – €464million 12. Nottingham Forest – €453.15million 13. Bayern Munich – €450.3million 14. West Ham – €444.01million 15. Al-Hilal – €417.05million 16. Barcelona – €411.5million 17. Napoli – €389.1million 18. Aston Villa – €388.9million 19. AC Milan – €384.1million 20. Brighton – €371.92million 21. RB Leipzig – €371million 22. Borussia Dortmund – €368.4million 23. Bayer Leverkusen – €355.75million 24. Bournemouth – €344.45million 25. Brentford – €336.55million 26. Everton – €330.02million 27. Wolves – €329.65million 28. Atalanta – €321.81million 29. Al-Ahli – €303.31million 30. Crystal Palace – €302.74million 31. Al-Ittihad – €293.43million 32. Inter Milan – €287.7million 33. Fulham – €273.85million 34. Monaco – €256.95million 35. Leeds United – €250.19million 36. Roma – €235.9million 37. Burnley – €234.74million 38. Al-Nassr – €231.56million 39. Benfica – €226.9million 40. Galatasaray – €224.73million 41. Leicester – €223million 42. Sunderland – €205.63million 43. Fiorentina – €199.4million 44. Southampton – €195.55million 45. Zenit St Petersburg – €194.73million 46. Villarreal – €188.25million 47. Wolfsburg – €187.58million 48. Sporting Lisbon – €183.5million 49. Porto – €181.04million 50. Marseille – €174.69million