BENFICA have cashed in a stunning £1billion from selling players over the past decade.
The transfer market has continually grown ever more bonkers and top clubs’ spending has hardly been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
This summer saw ludicrous amounts spent on players by several teams, with those happy to part ways making a big profit.
Leading the way are Benfica with several Serie A, Premier League and LaLiga clubs also doing well in this regard.
Here, SunSport details the top ten selling clubs since the 2009-10 season began, with data collected from Transfermarkt.
Surprisingly, only a few teams managed to make a transfer market profit despite their high price tags…
#1 – Benfica – £1billion
Not only have the Portuguese giants tipped into ten figures for their transfer income, they have won six league titles in this period.
This summer saw Ruben Dias depart for Manchester City in a £64million deal following previous years’ deals involving Ederson (£35m) and Joao Felix (£101m).
Nemanja Matic (£21m), Axel Witsel (£34m) and Victor Lindelof (£32m) have also bid farewell to reach a mega profit of £539m.
Strangely, this summer saw Benfica spend more than they made with Brazilian prospects Everton, Gilberto and Pedrinho adding to a total £85m outlay.
Joao Felix and Ruben Dias made Benfica a pretty pennyCredit: Getty – Contributor
#2 – Atletico Madrid – £953million
One club said to be worried by the coronavirus pandemic’s financial crisis are Atletico Madrid.
Alvaro Morata, Santiago Arias and Thomas Partey all left this year amid minimal incomings.
That helped tip Los Rojiblancos into second place of the selling table – although they have spent £45m than they have made since 2009-10.
Top sales include Antoine Griezmann (£107m), Diego Costa (£32m) and Radamel Falcao (£51m).
Antoine Griezmann remains Atletico Madrid’s record saleCredit: AP:Associated Press
#3 – Juventus – £900m
No club on this list has sold more players than Juventus.
A whopping 582 footballers have been moved on by the Italian giants while 591 have arrived, most of which via their massive academy system.
Paul Pogba broke the transfer world record when moving back to Manchester United for £89m in 2016.
Leonardo Bonucci (£37m), Arturo Vidal (£35m) and Moise Kean (£24m) have all been big earners for the Bianconeri.
Paul Pogba cost Juventus virtually nothing before he was sold for £89millionCredit: Getty – Contributor
#4 – Chelsea – £886m
A Fifa transfer ban saw Frank Lampard switch Chelsea’s focus to young players last year with a massive sell-off occurring at the same time.
The summer of 2019 saw £113m banked by the Blues, a record since Roman Abramovich bought the club.
Eden Hazard remains the most expensive exit from Stamford Bridge at £150m, before Oscar (£52m) and Diego Costa (£50m).
That has partly funded Chelsea’s huge spending spree in the past decade, totalling £1.45billion.
Shanghai SIPG splashed considerable cash on Brazilian playmaker OscarCredit: AFP or licensors
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#5 – Monaco – £868m
Dmitry Rybolovlev’s millions made Monaco a major force for a brief period in the 2010s.
Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar, James Rodriguez and Anthony Martial have all graced the Ligue 1 club, who can now boast one of Europe’s top academies.
Those four players earned a combined £316m when departing the principality.
And Monaco are the only non-Portuguese team to make a profit on this list – perhaps explaining their 17th and ninth-placed finishes in recent seasons.
Kylian Mbappe was just one member of a golden generation coming out of MonacoCredit: AFP or licensors
#6 – Barcelona – £862m
Quality over quantity is certainly the mantra of sixth-placed Barcelona and seventh-placed Real Madrid in the selling club leaderboard.
A staggering £862m was recouped by the Blaugrana from just 148 players in this period, while they won seven LaLiga titles and two Champions League crowns.
Paris Saint-Germain made Neymar the world’s most expensive player when signing him from Barcelona for £198m in 2017.
The Catalans have still made an overall loss of £613m since 2009-10, the biggest on this list, and now face a financial meltdown.
Barcelona had little choice but to sell Neymar after PSG met his release clauseCredit: AFP or licensors
#7 – Real Madrid – £823m
Much like their Clasico rivals, Real Madrid pick their market moves very carefully and didn’t even sign anyone in the summer of 2020.
Achraf Hakimi (£36m), Sergio Reguilon (£27m) and Oscar Rodriguez (£12m) all left though with Los Blancos still not a true ‘selling club’.
Nevertheless, Cristiano Ronaldo (£89m) and Angel Di Maria (£59.7m) were fairly chunky sales to flesh out the club’s coffers.
Making up the £823m figure are the departures of only 138 players, compared to Benfica’s 427, with 141 signed by Real.
Cristiano Ronaldo made a surprise move to Juventus in 2019Credit: AP:Associated Press
#8 – Roma – £788m
If you want to see the quality of players who have passed through the Stadio Olimpico in recent years, just look at the reigning Premier League champions.
Liverpool could not have won the title without Alisson Becker and Mohamed Salah, who cost a combined £92m when signing from Roma.
Radja Nainggolan (£34m) and Kostas Manolas (£32m) have also made healthy profits for the Serie A club.
Amazingly, Roma have only two Coppa Italia trophies to show for this period despite actually making an overall market LOSS of £39m.
Mohamed Salah found his feet at Roma before signing for LiverpoolCredit: Getty Images – Getty
#9 – Porto – £785m
Porto are further proof of Portuguese football’s amazing ability to produce stars and pluck talent from South America.
Eder Militao (£44.5m), that man Rodriguez (£42m), Hulk (£35m) and Eliaquim Mangala (£32m) were all brought in as youngsters and moved on for big margins.
Second only to Benfica, the Primeira Liga side have snapped up a £393m profit in the past ten seasons.
And their rivalry has yielded a share of the spoils with Porto taking five league crowns and a Europa League in this period.
Porto certainly got the better end of the deal to take Eliaquim Mangala to Manchester CityCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd
#10 – Liverpool – £730m
Jurgen Klopp’s success as Liverpool manager has arrived following the clear end to the Reds’ days as a selling club.
The German’s side was built with the cash made from Philippe Coutinho (£130m), Luis Suarez (£72m) and Raheem Sterling (£57m).
Extra money was banked this summer with Rhian Brewster (£18m) and Dejan Lovren (£11m) allowed to leave.
And the significant investment in Liverpool’s title winning side means a market loss of £294m has been racked up – something Reds fans will agree was very much worth it.
Raheem Sterling upset many a Liverpool fan when leaving for Man CityCredit: Action Images – Reuters
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