While Manchester United embarked on the second most expensive summer spending spree in football history, financial fair play (FFP) forced other top clubs to sell accruing to the Soccerex Transfer Review by Prime Time Sport.
United spent €196 million on Angel Di Maria, Luke Shaw, Ander Herrera, Marcos Rojo, Daley Blind and Radamel Falcao.
Only Real Madrid in 2009, when they spent €265 million for Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, has spent more than United in a summer transfer window.
This was the summer of FPP though as Real (€113 million), Atletico Madrid (€77 million), Barcelona (€79 million), Chelsea (€94 million), Liverpool (€92 million) and Manchester City (€62 million) all brought in club record sums for the sale of players.
City and Paris Saint-Germain were fined by UEFA for breaching FFP regulations, and spending dried up in France as PSG and Monaco cut costs.
The Transfer Review, produced by Esteve Calzada, a former chief commercial and marketing officer at Barcelona, concluded:
“Despite having wealthy owners, PSG and Monaco have been forced to decrease investment in new players due to the limited revenue generation potential of Ligue 1.”
Barcelona were the second biggest spenders behind United, with Luis Suarez their costliest arrival in a €157 million spending spree, followed by Liverpool (149 million) and Real Madrid (120 million).