£778m: Manchester City squad is the most expensive ever

Manchester City have assembled the most expensive squad in football history, according to the latest data released by the CIES Football Observatory.

With a squad costing £778.7m, Pep Guardiola’s Premier League leaders are top of the CIES table thanks to big-money signings such as Aymeric Laporte, who joined the club in January for a club record fee of £57m.

Laporte’s arrival last month was the latest cash-splashing by City after last summer’s transfer window when they signed Benjamin Mendy (£52m), Kyle Walker (£45m), Bernardo Silva (£43), Ederson (£35m) and Danilo (£27m).

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In its squad recruitment cost report, CIES said: “No club in football history has invested as much money in transfer indemnities to assemble the squad than Manchester City presently. Despite the loan of [Eliaquim] Mangala to Everton, the expensive signing of [Aymeric] Laporte brought the total squad recruitment cost to a record high [of £778.7m].”

City’s spending spree is £65.8m more than what second-placed Paris Saint-Germain have spent on their squad. Manchester United are in third place after shelling out £661.5m.

The CIES report added: “The economic logic suggests that the next Champions League winners is to be found among these teams. However, while money is important, other factors such as team cohesion can influence the course of events.”

Studying transfer fees for Europe’s top five leagues - the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 - CIES data revealed that the average amount invested in transfer fees by league and team varies between £85.9m in France’s Ligue 1 to a record high of £257.9m in the Premier League.

In the German Bundesliga the average was £100.1m, the Italian Serie A was £109.8m while Spain’s La Liga was £116m. CIES said that 42 clubs out of 98 “have a squad recruitment cost of more than €100m [£88.6m]”.

Other Premier League squads in the CIES Football Observatory top ten include fifth-placed Chelsea (£524.3m), seventh-placed Liverpool (£408.3m), ninth-placed Arsenal (£356.9m) and Everton (£323.2m) in tenth.

Top ten most expensive football squads

• £778.7m: Manchester City
• £712.9m: Paris Saint-Germain
• £661.5m: Manchester United
• £642.1m: Barcelona
• £524.3m: Chelsea
• £439.2m: Real Madrid
• £408.3m: Liverpool
• £396.8m: Juventus
• £356.9m: Arsenal
• £323.2m: Everton