Manchester City's summer business made them the first team of all time to assemble a billion-euro squad.
Pep Guardiola's current crop cost the club a combined £906m (€1.014bn) in transfer fees, with Joao Cancelo's summer arrival from Juventus bringing up the ten-figure total. Paris Saint-Germain (€913m) have the second most expensive collection of players in the world, whilst Real Madrid (€902m) are in third.
CIES Football Observatory published findings which reveal that City's squad was bought for 32 times the amount of Norwich's.
However, the gap between rich and poor within the same league is far greater on the continent, with La Liga containing the largest difference.
Juve have paid 63 times more than Lecce on recruitment, Bayern Munich's team is 85 times the price of Paderborn's, PSG have spent 114 times what Nimes have and Real's squad is an eye-watering 148 times as costly as that of Mallorca.
Still, none of those clubs have been as prolific in the transfer market in recent years as City, who have purchased 18 different players for at least £30m since Sheikh Mansour's takeover in 2008.
Rodri became the side's record signing over the off-season, the Sky Blues forking out £63m to lure him from Atletico Madrid.
Cancelo was brought in as part of a swap deal involving fellow full-back Danilo, whilst Riyad Mahrez's move from Leicester City earned the Foxes £60m.
Nevertheless, Real were the most active team in the summer just gone. Eden Hazard, Rodrygo, Eder Militao, Luka Jovic and Ferland Mendy were all signed for a grand total of roughly £300m.
Source :
90min
