According to a UEFA report, Manchester United‘s squad at the end of last season was the most expensive ever assembled, costing a collective 1.42 billion euros (£1.21bn) in transfer fees.
This figure surpassed Real Madrid’s previous record of 1.33 billion euros in 2020.
The United squad included high-profile signings such as £82 million Brazilian winger Antony, £80 million England defender Harry Maguire, £73 million signing Jadon Sancho, and £60 million Brazilian midfielder Casemiro.
Notably, further recruits last summer like Mason Mount, Andre Onana, and Rasmus Hojlund were not included in these figures.
UEFA’s report also highlighted that Manchester City, Chelsea, and Real Madrid also had squads costing over one billion euros in transfer fees in their most recent financial year-end figures.
However, Chelsea’s figures only included spending up to June 30, 2022, and did not account for their subsequent spending.
Manchester United is among 15 English top-flight clubs identified in the report as part of a multi-club investment group. Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 25% stake in the club is nearly complete. Ineos also holds majority stakes in French side Nice and Swiss club Lausanne.
The report also noted that 105 top-division European clubs (13% of the total) have cross-investment relationships with one or more other clubs.
Despite this, the actual number of transfers between clubs in these groups remains relatively low, suggesting that these relationships are not solely driven by player transfer considerations.
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