In March 2009, Rafa Benitez and Sir Alex Ferguson got into a war of
words about how much money they had spent in the transfer
market.
“They [Liverpool] are well ahead
of us in spending in the last five years,” Ferguson, the United
manager, said, insisting that Liverpool had outspent United by £24
million during Benítez’s 5½-year tenure.
“Check the figures,” Benítez
said.
So, we decided to heed Rafa’s advice and took a look at the
numbers thanks to the help of football web site,Transfer League. The findings were quite
revealing.
Let’s look at the numbers since the Premier League was founded
in the 1992-93 season up until the end of the 2008-2009 season:
The table is ranked from the highest to the lowest by net spend
— taking into consideration the amount of money the club has spent
minus the amount of money the club has received from transfer
sales.
No surprise, but Chelsea is top of the list having spent more
than half a billion pounds — approximately £147 million more than
the closest big spender Manchester United, who spent £391 million
since 1992. The Red Devils spent more than Liverpool but,
importantly, generated more money for the club in players sold.
Liverpool, by netting £2 million more than Manchester United,
finished in second place.
Of the clubs featured in the above chart, West Ham United is the
only one to generate a profit in the transfer market earning the
club £24 million over 17 years.
More importantly, let’s take a look at the 2004-2009 season to
see how Rafael Benitez and Fergie did. Remember Benitez became
Liverpool manager in 2004.
As you can see, Chelsea leads the pack in terms of net spend —
just under a quarter of a billion dollars. Rafa Benitez’s
Liverpool, meanwhile, spent approximately £40 million more than Sir
Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Based on the number of trophies
either club has won since 2004, Manchester United is the obvious
winner and have spent less money to boot.
Liverpool have earned more money from transfer sales than
Manchester United during these past five years. But note that the
above figures do not include the $131 million transfer of Cristiano
Ronaldo to Real Madrid.
Interestingly, Tottenham Hotspur have spent more than Liverpool
and Manchester United during the past five years. And to think they
were perilously close to relegation under Juande Ramos at one point
this past season.
While West Ham United earned a profit from 1992 to 2009 in the
transfer market, they haven’t earned a profit between 2004 and
2009. That badge of honour goes to Blackburn Rovers who made a
£190,000 profit.
While the Benitez v Ferguson war of words is far from over, at
least we have evidence above that shows that Benitez is definitely
the bigger spender of the two. But, of course, we now have this
summer’s transfer market to deal with so it’s quite possible that
the numbers may change quite significantly.
There are tons more interesting observations that could be made
from the above numbers. What strikes you as interesting?