Manchester United 2022-2023 squad the most expensive ever: report

Manchester United's squad for the 2022-23 season stood out as the most financially robust in the history of European football, according to a report published by UEFA, the governing body of European football.

The "European Club Finance and Investment Landscape" report revealed that United invested just over 1.42 billion euros ($1.52 billion) in their squad for that season, surpassing the previous record held by Real Madrid, who had spent 1.33 billion euros in 2020.

Under the guidance of Erik ten Hag, the team boasted notable signings such as Antony, Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho, and Casemiro. Manchester United's local rivals, Manchester City, clinched the second spot for that season with a squad valued at 1.286 billion euros.


Published on Wednesday, the report also underscored that Real Madrid (841 million euros), Manchester City (836 million euros), Barcelona (815 million euros), and Paris St Germain (807 million euros) recorded the highest revenues in 2022.

The Premier League dominated the top ranks of revenue generators with nine clubs in the top 20, averaging a revenue of 323 million euros.

Spain's LaLiga closely followed with total revenues amounting to 3.3 billion euros, followed by Germany's Bundesliga (3.2 billion euros), Italy's Serie A (2.4 billion euros), and France's Ligue 1 (2 billion euros) completing the top five.

"In 2022, the revenue of England's 20 top-tier clubs was almost as high as the combined revenue of all 642 clubs in the bottom 50 countries," the report highlighted.

Additionally, English clubs contributed 764 million euros to the collective 3.2 billion euros of pre-tax losses recorded by clubs in 2022.

UEFA commented that the pre-tax loss figures were encouraging "amid slowing wage inflation and renewed buoyancy in the transfer market."