Happy international break everyone! You have to give kudos to the CIES Football Observatory, for releasing their reports during the internationals, when we’re all looking for material to write about. The latest CIES study looked at the 100 most active clubs, across the world, over the past decade, in terms of net transfer spending.
Manchester United, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain were the only clubs in the world to suffer a net spend loss in the transfer market of over €1bn this past decade.
While United were worst overall, at (-€1.396 billion), Chelsea had the highest negative transfer balance in the period since covid (-€993m) and also for the calendar year 2023 (-€558m.)
This isn’t surprising, given how owner Todd Boehly doesn’t seem to believe in the concept of a budget, when it comes to his football club.
The southwest London club has spent over €1bn in the three transfer windows (since summer 2022) that he’s been in charge.
Chelsea has a balance of (-€558mn) for 2023, with this summer having seen them break 2019 Real Madrid’s record for single window transfer spending. This on the heels of breaking the January transfer window record for spending, earlier this year.
Chelsea have also broken the British transfer record twice in the space of six months by signing Enzo Fernandez (€121m) and Moises Caicedo (€133m).
Speaking of Enzo, apparently he might actually be ready to look into leaving, believe it or not.
That’s according to a report in Spanish media outlet Fichajes, who claim that this is “partly due to a football level below expectations” and the only thing that will convince him to stay is if things turn around. More from Sport Bible.
Fresh off a surprise loss to Nottingham Forest, the Blues sit in 12th place, exactly where they finished last season, at the international break.
So what’s gone wrong? According to Ben Chilwell, the team needs to be more “ruthless.” A Stamford Bridge Too Far has more.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.