Premier League’s most expensive squads: Man City no longer in 1st spot, champions Arsenal in 6th

The Premier League’s most expensive squads are not necessarily delivering success, with reigning champions Arsenal only in sixth place.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have now overtaken Manchester City in top spot, despite the Reds failing to win any silverware and only finishing fifth in the table last season.

Read on for all 20 Premier League clubs ranked by the value of their squads…

1) Liverpool – £980m

A lot of Liverpool’s biggest spending came last summer when they twice broke the British transfer record with deals for Florian Wirtz and later Alexander Isak. They splashed the cash again late on in this year’s window by paying a whopping £123m for French winger Bradley Barcola (fee via BBC Sport).

2) Manchester City – £969m

The staggering amounts Man City have now spent on their squad isn’t surprising, but it is admittedly surprising that they’re not in first place any longer. Still, they were the biggest spenders this summer as they completely rebuilt their midfield, bringing in Enzo Fernandez, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Elliot Anderson to help replace the departing Rodri.

3) Chelsea – £918m

Chelsea’s huge spending doesn’t quite tell the whole story as they’ve also been one of the biggest sellers in this year’s transfer market. This undoubtedly helped them afford the huge fee they paid for Morgan Rogers, while Maxence Lacroix wasn’t exactly cheap either.

Still, look at the value of those players they sent out on loan as well – worth more than the entire current squads at Leeds United, Sunderland, Coventry City, and Hull City…

4) Manchester United – £862m

A little more careful with their spending this year, Manchester United still have a squad full of big-money signings. Many of those have not quite worked out, and have indeed been moved on in recent times, such as Jadon Sancho and Antony, but there are still many very expensive players in there, including new signing Carlos Baleba.

5) Tottenham – £852m

Tottenham must now be under huge pressure to at least qualify for Europe this season after such significant investment into this squad. After back-to-back 17th place finishes in the Premier League, Spurs have really pulled out all the stops to give Roberto De Zerbi some top players like Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, and Omar Marmoush, but they’ve surely also over-spent on some of them, like Savio.

6) Arsenal – £848m

Arsenal were much busier last summer than this year, but in general you have to admire the Gunners for winning the Premier League title when so many of their rivals consistently spend a lot more than them and have come away with nothing. Significant funds went on Declan Rice a few years ago, but this year’s deal for Bruno Guimaraes looks like a bargain compared to the kind of money we’ve seen paid for the likes of Fernandez, Anderson, and Tonali.

7) Newcastle United – £705m

This was a challenging summer for Newcastle as so many of their stars left, but it’s surely also helped them out a bit in terms of spending. Given their significant Saudi investment, it’s not too surprising to see them 7th on this list with a squad worth £705m.

8) Aston Villa – £495m

There’s quite a jump from 7th to 8th on this list, with Aston Villa’s total squad value a lot lower than Newcastle, and it’s not too surprising after a difficult summer saw them sell considerably more star names than they brought in. If Unai Emery can get them challenging for a place in Europe again this season, it’s truly superb work to be doing so with considerably less in the way of resources than his rivals.

9) Brighton – £421m

Brighton’s current squad might not have cost a huge amount, but it would be interesting to see the value of some of their recent sales. We’ve seen Chelsea raid them a few times now for major signings like Moises Caicedo and Joao Pedro, and one imagines there are a few more in this current Seagulls squad who’ll end up moving for considerably more than they joined for.

10) Brentford – £379m

Another club that does its recruitment really well, Brentford will probably remain competitive in the top half of the table again this season despite putting their squad together for a fraction of what Tottenham have spent. The Bees probably also have a few more superstars in the making in there somewhere who’ll move on for significant profit in upcoming transfer windows.

11) Bournemouth – £378m

Bournemouth are similar to the two clubs above them as they continue to punch well above their weight. The Cherries have mastered the art of snapping up bargains who later increase in value and earn big moves. Antoine Semenyo, Dean Huijsen, and Milos Kerkez were among their big sales last season, and there’ll surely be eyes on the likes of Alex Scott and Eli Junior Kroupi in the near future.

12) Nottingham Forest – £347m

Nottingham Forest have spent a lot in recent years, but usually without parting with vast sums of cash for any one player in particular. Still, someone like Liam Delap this summer was a significant investment, contributing to them being 12th on this list.

13) Ipswich Town – £311m

That’s quite an expensive set of players for a newly-promoted side who clearly knew they had to make significant changes in order to survive in the Premier League this season.

14) Fulham – £311m

Fulham continue to establish themselves as a safe mid-table Premier League club, and some smart spending this summer means they’re still looking in pretty strong shape without doing anything too crazy on the market.

15) Crystal Palace – £281m

Crystal Palace have had to cope with a lot of player sales in recent times, with Eberechi Eze moving on last summer, Marc Guehi in January, and then Maxence Lacroix this summer. Overall they’re not left with a particularly high-value squad.

16) Everton – £268m

Most fans would acknowledge that Everton look to have left themselves short with a quiet summer. The low value of their squad reflects the worrying lack of personnel in some key positions which could well lead to a season of struggling against relegation.

17) Leeds United – £240m

If Leeds manage to survive again in the Premier League this season, you can’t say they’ve just spent their way to success, with their squad value putting them just outside the relegation zone.

18) Sunderland – £232m

When you see this kind of money invested in Sunderland, it really starts to look like a miracle that they finished as high as 7th last season, but can they repeat the trick?

19) Coventry City – £174m

Unlike Ipswich, Coventry City have not spent huge money upon winning promotion to the Premier League, with their squad costing them just £174m.

20) Hull City – £160m

Finally, Hull City have really made a tremendous start with six points from their first six considering theirs is the cheapest squad in the entire Premier League. It’s also particularly damning for Tottenham, who have spent almost £600m more on their squad, but who sit bottom of the table with zero points and zero goals so far.