Arsenal's spending on transfers this season is paying off handsomely // Photo: arsenal.com
The ranking was published by the International Center for Sports Research (CIES). Arsenal topped the list with a significant lead over Liverpool. Among the 10 clubs with the worst transfer balance (see Table 1), seven are from England, two from Spain and one from Saudi Arabia.
TOP-3 anti-rating
During the last two transfer windows Arsenal missed out on €362 mln. With revenues from the sale of players of €16 mln, the expenses amounted to €378 mln. Liverpool, with revenues of €255 mln, spent €499 mln on the acquisition of new players. Manchester City, which took the third place, spent €336 mln with revenues of €128 mln.
Arsenal’s substantial expenditures have been justified so far: the club tops the English Premier League standings. After 26 rounds, the club has a three-point lead over Manchester City, with a game in hand.
Unexpectedly among the leaders
It is noteworthy that Al Hilal, the most titled club in Saudi Arabia, took a high position among European clubs. The club, led by former Italian Lazio and Inter coach Simone Inzaghi, has been highly active in the transfer market in recent years. In the 2025/26 season, the Riyadh-based club earned just €12 million and spent €207 million on transfers.
Positive balance
The most positive transfer balance was recorded at the Monaco club, which plays in the French Ligue 1 (see Table 2). With €168m of income, €19m was spent on transfers. The second and third places were taken by English clubs Wolverhampton and Southampton. The former spent €142m on revenues of €240m, the latter €67m and €156m respectively.
The French can count
Among the 10 clubs that topped the ranking of the best clubs in terms of transfer balance, four are from France and England, one each from Portugal and Austria. Given the fact that French clubs are not in the TOP-10 anti-rating, we can judge about the balance of their transfer policy.
Table No. 1:
|
TOP-10 soccer clubs with negative transfer balance (€ million)*, season-2025/26 |
||||
|
№ |
Club / League | Revenues** | Expenses*** |
Balance |
|
1 |
“Arsenal (England) |
16 |
378 |
-362 |
|
2 |
“Liverpool (England) |
255 |
499 |
-244 |
|
3 |
“Manchester City” (England) |
128 |
336 |
-208 |
|
4 |
“Al Hilal” (Saudi Arabia) |
12 |
207 |
-195 |
|
5 |
“Sunderland (England) |
52 |
243 |
-191 |
|
6 |
“Manchester United (England) |
93 |
280 |
-187 |
|
7 |
“Tottenham” (England) |
73 |
250 |
-177 |
|
8 |
“Atletico” (Spain) |
144 |
306 |
-162 |
|
9 |
“Real” (Spain) |
34 |
188 |
-154 |
|
10 |
“Everton” (England) |
10 |
158 |
-148 |
| * According to CIES data of February 11, 2026
** Proceeds from sale of soccer players *** Expenses on acquisition of new soccer players |
||||
Table No. 2:
|
TOP-10 soccer clubs with a positive transfer balance (€ million), season 2025/26 |
||||
|
№ |
Club / Association | Revenues | Expenses |
Balance |
|
1 |
“Monaco (France) |
168 |
19 |
+149 |
|
2 |
“Wolverhampton (England) |
240 |
142 |
+98 |
|
3 |
“Southampton” (England) |
156 |
67 |
+89 |
|
4 |
“Sporting (Portugal) |
189 |
102 |
+87 |
|
5 |
“Reims” (France) |
88 |
4 |
+84 |
|
6 |
“Brighton” (England) |
173 |
92 |
+81 |
|
7-8 |
“Lille” (France) |
134 |
54 |
+80 |
|
“Bournemouth” (England) |
293 |
213 |
||
|
9 |
“Rennais” (France) |
157 |
86 |
+71 |
|
10 |
RB Salzburg (Austria) |
93 |
25 |
+68 |
