Despite enormous income from Champions League football, Liverpool’s money has been sieved away from squad improvement, and our estimates indicate that approximately £55M has been frittered away on a combination of expenses and enormous bank interest repayments.
Money, effectively, wasted.
Current Premier League Teams
Net transfer spending since May 2008
| Man City | £215,090,250 |
| Aston Villa | £74,608,700 |
| Spurs | £58,606,500 |
| Stoke | £45,421,150 |
| Sunderland | £32,026,650 |
| Wolves * | £18,449,700 |
| Fulham | £16,220,250 |
| Bolton | £15,686,250 |
| Hull | £14,324,550 |
| Birmingham * | £10,715,600 |
| Chelsea | £9,865,650 |
| Burnley * | £6,421,350 |
| Everton | £3,337,500 |
| Liverpool | £1,921,500 |
| Wigan | -£14,284,500 |
| Arsenal | -£19,001,500 |
| West Ham | -£21,902,900 |
| Man Utd * | -£24,831,000 |
| Blackburn | -£30,099,800 |
| Portsmouth | -£52,465,500 |
* Burnley, Birmingham and Wolves spending includes one season of Championship spending and one in the Premier League. Manchester United’s figure includes an £80M income from the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Despite assurances that Liverpool would have a healthy transfer budget of approximately £20M this summer, Liverpool actually turned a profit of £500,000 from transfers in the summer. This was on the back of some £70M created by progression in the Champions League, TV revenue and prize money for finishing Premier League runners up.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Good custodians?
Thanks to TransferMarkt, Statto and BBC for providing comprehensive transfer spending for all clubs.