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Soccerex Transfer Review - Premier League Clubs Count Cost of Unsuccessful Signings
Soccerex Transfer Review - Premier League Clubs Count Cost of Unsuccessful Signings
Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are the biggest culprits when it comes to over-spending on players, according to the Soccerex Transfer Review by Prime Time Sport.
Memphis Depay, Christian Benteke and Son Heung Min represented the most unsuccessful signings from last season, based on league minutes played and the transfer fee paid.
Depay joined Manchester United for €34m from PSV Eindhoven in May 2015 but struggled to hold down a first-team place at Old Trafford and only managed two league goals in 30 appearances.
Belgium striker Benteke endured a frustrating single season at Anfield as he only managed nine league goals before being shipped out to Crystal Palace, while Son Heung Min has not featured regularly enough at White Hart Lane to justify his €30m transfer fee.
A whopping €950m worth of players (42% of those costing more than €10m) signed by Premier League sides over the last four seasons have appeared in less than half the minutes of their clubs’ league games.
Over a quarter of signings of more than €10m have already left their clubs and in total 22% of the total investment in the last four seasons has been made on footballers that played less than 50% of minutes.
Premier League teams invested over €1.2b in foreign players this summer, 89% of the total spend, which is the highest amount ever in a single transfer window.
Other key stats revealed in the review include:
England’s Championship saw players investment soar to €247m, which is five times more than all other second division leagues combined.
The two Manchester clubs top the European investment rankings after investing €185m and €174m respectively.
Six out of the top ten most expensive players in Championship history took place this summer, as sides try to maximize chances of promotion to the EPL and associated rainfall of millions
Man City’s Nicolas Otamendi was the most profitable signing last season (78% of minutes), followed by Anthony Martial (Manchester United) and Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich). Christian Benteke (44% of minutes) and Mateo Kovacic (30%) were the least used of most expensive signings of last year in Europe
Liverpool were EPL leaders in player sales income (€79m), having sold players for more than €250m over the last 3 years. Usual suspects Southampton were close behind, selling €76m worth of players this time around.
Four centre-backs are included as part of the top ten most expensive transfers in the summer. Only one striker, Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi, made the top ten.
SB