Benfica was the seventh club to invest the most in the current selection outside the ‘big 5’

Benfica was the seventh club outside the top five leagues to spend the most on building its current squad. on a total investment of 188 million euros (ME), This is evident from a study published on Wednesday by the Football Observatory (CIES).

Rivals FC Porto and Sporting occupy 11th and 12th place in the list of clubs outside the ‘big 5’ that invested the most in the current group of players, worth 152 ME and 151 ME respectively, in a classification dominated by English emblems.

The Premier League places eight clubs in the top 10, including the three that have spent the most on building existing squads in the 2023/24 season, all above 1,000 ME: Manchester United (1,150 ME), Chelsea (1,134 ME) and Manchester City (1,042 ME), English and European champions.

Paris Saint-Germain, which exactly reached the 1,000 ME mark and occupies fourth place, and Real Madrid, eighth, with 708 ME invested, are the “invaders” in the list drawn up by CIES, which resembles an emblem of the English championship .

Arsenal (fifth, with 836 ME), Tottenham (sixth, with 829 ME), Liverpool (seventh, with 770 ME), Newcastle (ninth, with 661 ME) and West Ham (10th, with 505 ME), complete the ‘top ‘ 10’, according to an assessment that adds fixed transfer values ​​and variables depending on the objectives, regardless of whether they have been achieved.

Of the twenty Premier League clubs, only the recently promoted Lutton is not part of the Football Observatory hierarchy, followed by the Italian league, with fifteen teams, the Spanish league, with twelve, the French and German, both with eleven.

Outside the five main leagues, Al Hilal, a Saudi club coached by Portuguese Jorge Jesus, was the biggest spender in the current crop of footballers, worth 382 ME, followed by Leicester, with 281 ME, one of three teams in the competition . English second division, who are on the CIES list together with Southampton and Leeds.

The Championship clubs are ahead of the three ‘big’ Portuguese clubs, which occupy considerably more modest positions in the general classification: Benfica is in 45th place, FC Porto in 51st and Sporting in 52nd.

By sector, Liverpool spent the most on hiring current goalkeepers, worth 73 million euros, while Manchester United invested more in defense (383 million), Real Madrid in midfield (447 million) and PSG in attack (557 million ).