How much Europe’s big five leagues spent this summer
Carlo Garganese
- 1 Sept 2021 18:26 BST
- 3 min read
The Premier League’s astronomical financial power was fully on display this summer as it blew the rest of Europe’s big five leagues away in the transfer market.
This summer was expected to be much quieter due to the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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But while Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 pinched their pockets, the Premier League continued to spend heavily.
Courtesy of Deloitte’s figures, the Premier League may have spent 11 per cent less than the summer of 2020 but it still splashed out an astonishing €1.330 billion (£1.140bn) gross in total.
Gross transfer spend of Europe’s top five leagues
Premier League: €1,330m (£1,140m)
Serie A: €550m (£475m)
Bundesliga: €415m (£360m)
Ligue 1: €375m (£325m)
La Liga: €295m (£250m)
This was almost €800m more than the next biggest gross spenders, Serie A who paid out €550m (£475m).
La Liga were the lowest gross spenders of the big five leagues, as their final total reached just €295m (£250m).
The Premier League actually spent more money gross than any collection of three of the other four leagues combined.
Even more striking, however, was the difference in net spending between the Premier League and the other four major leagues.
Net transfer spend of Europe’s top five leagues
Premier League: €655m (£560m)
La Liga: €65m (£55m)
Serie A: €61m (£50m)
Bundesliga: €40m (£35m)
Ligue 1: €15m (£13m)
The Premier League’s net spend of €655m (£560m) overshadowed that of La Liga: €65m (£55m), Serie A: €61m (£50m), Bundesliga: €40m (£35m) and Ligue 1.
The net spend of La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 combined comes to €181m, which is €474m less than the Premier League on its own.
It is this kind of disparity that has led to some of the biggest clubs in Italy and Spain – namely Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid – to push for a European Super League as they bemoan the financial power of the Premier League.
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