City squad is ‘the most expensive in history’

PREMIER League leaders Manchester City have the most expensive squad in history, according to a report published on Monday by the Swiss-based CIES Football Observatory. The research values Pep Guardiola’s squad at €878 million ($1.08 billion), with Paris SaintGermain second on €805 million, after a January transfer window in which City acquired centre-back Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao for €65 million. Neymar’s world-record signing from Barcelona accounts for more than a quarter of the PSG total, but Kylian Mbappe is only on loan, despite an anticipated transfer fee of up to €180 million to be paid to Monaco at the end of the season. That leaves Guardiola managing the costliest ever collection of talent. Two other teams have spent more than €700 million building their squads – Manchester United (€747 million) and Barcelona (€725 million). The rest of the top 10 is made up of Real Madrid in sixth, Juventus in eighth and four Premier League teams – Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton. The researchers calculated that the average Premier League squad cost “a record high” of €291 million, more than double La Liga’s €131 million average.