Manchester United overtake Real Madrid with the most expensive squad in history
According to UEFA reports, the 2022-2023 Manchester United team is the most expensive squad ever assembled in football history!
The 'Red Devils' squad was worth a staggering £1.2 billion ($1.543bn), surpassing the previous record held by Real Madrid, who had spent £ 1.12bn ($1.434bn) in 2020.
The new additions included to break the record were Jadon Sancho (£72.1m, $91.5m), Antony (£80.4m, $102m), Harry Maguire (£78.9m $100m), and Casemiro (£69.43m, $88m), according to Front Office Sports.
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For having the most expensive squad in history, United didn't set the 2022-23 season alight, finishing third in the Premier League, losing the FA Cup final to Manchester City, and beating Newcastle United in the League Cup final.
Real Madrid's campaign in the 2019-2020 season was much more successful than Manchester United's 2022-2023 season.
In the summer of 2019, Madrid made a host of new additions, with Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy, and Brazilian winger Rodrygo being their main incomings, according to Transfermarkt.
Under the guidance of footballing legend Zinedine Zidane, the Spanish giants won the La Liga title, the Supercopa de España, and the Champions League quarterfinals.
In the 2023 list UEFA has released, local rivals Manchester City sit in second place behind United (£1.01bn, $1.29 billion), Chelsea is third (£850.2m $1.08 billion), Real Madrid is fourth (£812m, $1.03 billion), and PSG makes up the fifth spot (£740m, $938 million).
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Six of the top ten most expensive squads for the 2022-23 season were Premier League teams, with Liverpool (6th), Arsenal (7th), and Tottenham (9th) all making the list.
As reported by Sky Sports, the Premier League has started to crack down on big spending in England's elite division, with Everton and Nottingham Forest already facing sanctions.
With Richard Masters and the Premier League being firmer on top-division clubs, it will be interesting to see how much these figures change in the near future.
If the Premier League January transfer window is anything to go by, the traditional 'Big Six' clubs have already started to learn their lesson in cutting back on transfers.
According to Sky Sports, only Tottenham and Manchester City out of the traditional 'Big Six' clubs bought a player, with Spurs signing Radu Dragusin for £26.7m ($32.8m) and City signing Claudio Echeverri for £12.5m ($15.8m).
Will the Premier League clubs continue to dominate in spending, or will other clubs across the world begin trying to take over world football?
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