Football’s biggest spenders don’t always get their money’s worth. Here’s the top 10 most expensive windows – and how many ended up burning cash.
10. Barcelona, Summer 2019/20 – €279m
Signings:
- Antoine Griezmann (€120m)
- Frenkie de Jong (€86m)
- Neto (€26m)
- Pedri (€23m)
- Junior Firpo (€20m)
- Marc Cucurella (€4m)
Verdict: Pedri and De Jong were great buys, but Griezmann was a complete misfit and swallowed most of the budget. For €279m, they got two proper hits and a lot of waste.
9. Chelsea, Summer 2025/26 – €280m
Signings:
- João Pedro (€64m)
- Jamie Gittens (€56m)
- Jorrel Hato (€44m)
- Liam Delap (€36m)
- Estêvão (€34m)
- Dário Essugo (€22m)
- Mamadou Sarr (€14m)
- Kendry Páez (€10m)
Verdict: A heavy tilt towards youth potential. This window is more about preparing for the future than immediate quality. Could pay off, but Chelsea fans have heard that before.
8. Arsenal, Summer 2025/26 – €289m
Signings:
- Martín Zubimendi (€70m)
- Viktor Gyökeres (€66m)
- Eberechi Eze (€65m)
- Noni Madueke (€56m)
- Christian Mosquera (€15m)
- Christian Nørgaard (€12m)
- Kepa Arrizabalaga (€6m)
Verdict: Arsenal finally threw some serious money around. Having been the perennial also-rans for the past few seasons, anything less than a major trophy will be a failure.
7. Chelsea, Summer 2022/23 – €301m
Signings:
- Wesley Fofana (€80m)
- Marc Cucurella (€65m)
- Raheem Sterling (€56m)
- Kalidou Koulibaly (€42m)
- Carney Chukwuemeka (€18m)
- Cesare Casadei (€15m)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (€12m)
- Gabriel Slonina (€9m)
- Denis Zakaria (€3m loan)
Verdict: Verdict: A mess. A few seasons on, only Cucurella remains as a nailed-on starter. Fofana has struggled with injuries but remains a strong prospect when fit. Sterling struggled to hit the heights he did at Liverpool or City, and Koulibaly only lasted a season. Disastrous window.
6. Chelsea, Winter 2022/23 – €330m
Signings:
- Enzo Fernández (€121m)
- Mykhaylo Mudryk (€70m)
- Benoît Badiashile (€38m)
- Noni Madueke (€35m)
- Malo Gusto (€30m)
- Andrey Santos (€13m)
- David Datro Fofana (€12m)
- João Félix (€11m loan)
Verdict: Enzo has been a solid signing but hasn’t justified the monstrous transfer fee. Mudryk flopped, Félix was forgettable and many others have struggled to make an impact. Makueke was sold for a profit and Gusto remains a regular. Huge outlay, little return.
5. Real Madrid, Summer 2019/20 – €331m
Signings:
- Eden Hazard (€121m)
- Luka Jović (€63m)
- Éder Militão (€50m)
- Ferland Mendy (€48m)
- Rodrygo (€45m)
- Alberto Soro (€3m)
- Alphonse Areola (€2m)
- Takefusa Kubo (€0)
Verdict: Hazard was an immensely talented player but the move ended in disaster. Jović didn’t work either. Militão, Mendy and Rodrygo have proved their worth. A mixed bag of a window – yet still one of the better windows compared to most on this list.
4. Liverpool, Summer 2025/26 – €340m
Signings:
- Florian Wirtz (€125m)
- Hugo Ekitike (€95m)
- Miloš Kerkez (€47m)
- Jeremie Frimpong (€40m)
- Giovanni Leoni (€31m)
- Armin Pešić (€2m)
- Freddie Woodman (€0)
Verdict: A large outlay from the Premier League champions. Should a move for Isak materialise, it could become a record-breaking window of spending. Eyebrows were raised over Ekitike’s fee but he has hit the ground running. Wirtz will be given time to adapt but will forever be under scrutiny given the fee. The jury is still out on whether Frimpong and Kerkez can replace the legendary Trent and Robertson full-back pairing.
3. Al-Hilal, Summer 2023/24 – €353m
Signings:
- Neymar (€90m)
- Malcom (€60m)
- Rúben Neves (€55m)
- Aleksandar Mitrović (€53m)
- Sergej Milinković-Savić (€40m)
- Kalidou Koulibaly (€23m)
- Yassine Bounou (€21m)
- Mohammed Al-Yami (€0)
Verdict: The Saudi Pro League’s statement summer. Quality players across the board which undoubtedly raised the league’s level, without necessarily providing value for money. Neymar’s signing will rank among the worst in history, mustering up only 7 appearances before leaving on a free transfer to Santos.
2. PSG, Summer 2023/24 – €415m
Signings:
- Randal Kolo Muani (€95m)
- Gonçalo Ramos (€65m)
- Manuel Ugarte (€60m)
- Ousmane Dembélé (€55m)
- Lucas Hernandez (€45m)
- Bradley Barcola (€45m)
- Hugo Ekitike (€29m)
- Kang-in Lee (€22m)
- Xavi Simons (€4m)
- Milan Škriniar (€0)
- Marco Asensio (€0)
- Cher Ndour (€0)
Verdict: PSG ditched galácticos for depth. They won the Champions League, but €95m for Kolo Muani still looks mad. Dembélé and Barcola are like bargains in hindsight, but overall it was an expensive way to fix problems that smarter planning could’ve solved for less.
1. Chelsea, Summer 2023/24 – €464m
Signings:
- Moisés Caicedo (€116m)
- Roméo Lavia (€62m)
- Christopher Nkunku (€60m)
- Cole Palmer (€47m)
- Axel Disasi (€45m)
- Nicolas Jackson (€37m)
- Lesley Ugochukwu (€27m)
- Robert Sánchez (€23m)
- Djordje Petrović (€16m)
- Deivid Washington (€16m)
- Ângelo (€15m)
- Diego Moreira (€0)
Verdict: Cole Palmer has been excellent value and has been worth every penny. The rest? Less so. Caicedo is similar to Enzo in that he’s been a regular starter but the fee still looks inflated. Lavia has struggled with injuries, Nkunku never settled and the rest have failed to live up to expectation. At the time it felt like a spending spree with no balance. It looks even worse with hindsight.
Out of €3.3 billion spent across these windows, only a handful of players justified the outlay. For every Pedri or Palmer, there’s a Hazard, Griezmann or Mudryk. Big spending wins headlines. But trophies? Not so much.
