The 11 qualified teams to spend less money than Barcelona

FT Desk

• 27 Oct 2022 01:49 CDT
• 4 min read

Barcelona are out of the Champions League having spent €153 million on the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde this summer. Some 11 teams are into the knock-out rounds having spent less.

Barca lost Lionel Messi on a free to Paris Saint-Germain last summer, unable to afford the Argentine's contract with a €1.35 billion debt hanging over them.

But president Joan Laporta set about activating "financial levers" this year, and sold a percentage of future revenues on things like TV rights and merchandising in return for liquid capital during the summer transfer window.

Lewandowski, Kounde and Raphina were bought - from Bayern Munich, Sevilla and Leeds respectively - for a combined €153m, while Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso and Hector Bellerin were picked up on free transfers, all of which accrued costs in signing on fees and wages.

The outlay was predicated on reaching at least the Champions League quarter-finals, but despite Lewandowski's five goals from five games in the competition this season, Barca are out. Some 11 teams have already made it through who spent less than them this summer.

Of the 11 qualifiers so far, only Chelsea spent more money, with Todd Boehly's first summer a new owner seeing a world record €281.9m spent at Stamford Bridge, with Wesley Fofana becoming the world's most expensive defender and Marc Cucurella the costliest left-back.

Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Bayern Munich each broke the €100m barrier.

There may have been more excitement at PSG last summer when they signed Messi, Sergio Ramos and Gigio Donnarumma, but they arrived on frees, unlike Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, Carlos Soler et al this year.

City perhaps made the signing of the summer in acquiring Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for just €60m, but with Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko leaving for Arsenal and Raheem Sterling sold to Chelsea, the English champions actually made a profit this summer.

At the other end of the scale are Inter Milan, who spent just €38.6m in the most recent transfer window. Lazio's Joaquin Correa was the only player they spent big on - to the tune of €23.6m - with Andre Onana arriving on a free from Ajax and Romelu Lukaku's loan return from Chelsea only setting them back €8m.

Who spent what this summer