Sometimes it doesn’t take much time to conclude that a club has overpaid a new player, or that it has grabbed a footballer on the cheap. The famous Football Observatory from Neuchatel (CIES) using its exclusive statistical model and the money allocated by the clubs for compensation, offered us a list of clubs that in the last decade, i.e. since 2012, invested much more money than it was realistic in buying footballers..@CIES_Football ⚽️ analysis of gaps bw fees invested & players’ fair price 🤓 @ManUtd leads overspending table with +€2⃣3⃣8⃣M (+18%) ahead of @AVFCOfficial & @ChelseaFC 😬 @Wolves, @SpursOfficial & @ManCity among finest negociators 😊 Data & method 👉 https://t.co/DXs6KC0tjc pic.twitter.com/1krCQtSJ4e— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) September 19, 2022 The study is of course based on clubs from the five strongest European leagues, and at the top of the list of those who overpaid players the most is – Manchester United. It makes sense when we remember that with 87 million euros, the Red Devils made Harry Maguire the most expensive defender in the history of football, and that, for example, they paid 59 million for Fred, and 84.7 million for Romelu Lukaku. Since United spent the most money (1,594,000,000) in the last 10 years, it is somewhat logical that it should be at the top of the list. CIES’ estimate is that the Old Trafford giants fetched 238,000,000 more than the objective value of the players they brought in.Manchester United owners let Ten Hag spend double the planned amount – and are now playing hardballHowever, it seems that Juventus still made worse moves because it spent half a billion less, and had an imbalance of 234,000,000 euros, only 4 million less than United. The ‘Old lady’ spent 85,5 million on Matthijs de Ligt, 76 million on Arthur Melo, 40 million on Federico Bernardeschi, 29,4 million on Marko Pjaca (who?)…##NAJAVA_MECA_6651472##However, there are also clubs that, in comparison to the amount of investment, have made much more mistakes than United or Juventus. Let’s say, Rennes spent 369 million for a football player, for which CIES believes that ‘only’ 255,000,000 should have been allocated, and expressed as a percentage, it decreased by 45 percent. Aston Villa also cannot boast with a great transfer policy in the last decade with a ratio of 577,000,000 – 428,000,000, which is an overpayment of 35 percent. Of course, there are also those who got more for less money, and that group of more famous names includes Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Tottenham.
