How Man Utd & Man City £1.1bn+ squads compare with Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal & others

Manchester United’s 2022/23 squad is valued as the most expensive in football history, according to a report by Uefa.

Erik ten Hag’s team cost a whopping €1,422m (£1,216m) according to the data, which measures transfer spending up to last summer and does not factor in the expensive arrivals of Andre Onana, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund.

The United squad is the most expensive ever assembled, surpassing the €1,332m (£1,139m) value assigned to Real Madrid’s roster in 2020. It’s also significantly more expensive than second place in the 2023 edition, a spot occupied by Manchester City.

The European champions’ team is estimated to have cost €1,286m (£1,100m), the third most expensive squad in football history.

It is possible hat Chelsea gazump the figures of United and City, however, especially with the lavish, - and at times reckless - spending that has accompanied the Todd Boehly era at Stamford Bridge. The Blues have not submitted their 2023 data, but their squad value from the previous year was estimated at €1,084m (£927m).

Madrid are the only other side whose 2022/23 squad was valued at over a billion euros, with Los Blancos’ team costing €1,031 (£881.97m).

Paris Saint Germain (£802m), Liverpool (£774m) and Arsenal (£761m) are next on the list, with Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Aston Villa and West Ham United in Uefa’s top-20 list. Interestingly, Barcelona lagged behind their traditional superclub rivals, with Xavi’s squad valued at £493m, while Bayern Munich are 13th with a team costing £457m, nearly a third less than United's

Of the top 20 sides, nine came from the Premier League, three from La Liga, while four clubs were Italian. Three Bundesliga sides and a French side made up list.

Explaining how they calculate the figure, Uefa’s report said: “A player’s original transfer costs are amortised over the length of their contract, with the amortisation rate being affected by the length of the contract, any contract extensions and how long ago the transfer took place.”