Top 10 highest spending managers in football history

The top managers in the world require good squads to win trophies. And with the modern nature of football, it requires a vast sum of money to assemble a squad that can challenge for titles. In this article, we take a look at the highest spending managers in history. 

Highest spending managers in football of all time

10. Claudio Ranieri – £777.17million 

The Italian has coached 18 different clubs in his career, including Chelsea, Juventus, Leicester City, Monaco and most recently, Watford. His most expensive signings are Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez for Monaco, during their 2016 phase. 

9. Ernesto Valverde – £782.85million 

The former Barcelona head coach has been out of a job since leaving Camp Nou. Despite not having much of a day in terms of transfers, the Blaugrana spent over €400 million on Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann combined. 

8. Antonio Conte – £869.49million 

Conte makes no qualms about his requirements for squad improvement wherever he goes. It is remarkable how he isn’t higher on the list of the highest spending managers, but he might climb the list with one more signing. The Tottenham boss has made his demands clear to the board, and will be needing more spending from Daniel Levy and co to achieve his ambitions. 

7. Arsene Wenger – £875.93million 

Wenger’s first few signings for Arsenal were Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira for bargain deals. But, things changed later in the manager’s spell, with more cash spent on players that didn’t yield as much on the pitch. 

6. Diego Simeone – £887.42million 

While he considers himself a classic underdog, Simeone is among the highest spending managers of all-time. Nevertheless, the Atletico Madrid icon has taken the club he once played for and transformed them into one of the best in Europe. And he has had the financial backing of the board to make that happen. The most expensive signing under Simeone remains Joao Felix, who hasn’t quite hit the mark yet. 

5. Massimiliano Allegri – £969.73million 

Despite Juventus’ aptitude for signing free agents, Allegri has spent close to a billion pounds on signings, which places him fifth among the highest spending managers of all time. The most expensive signing under the Italian is Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined the Bianconeri in 2018, followed by Gonzalo Higuain and now, Dusan Vlahovic. 

4. Manuel Pellegrini – £1.04billion 

Pellegrini’s inclusion this high in the highest spending managers’ list is a surprise. But, he spent a year at Real Madrid, when they signed Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo in the same week. The Chilean also spent three years at Manchester City followed by a spell at West Ham United where he signed Sebastian Haller and Felipe Anderson. 

3. Carlo Ancelotti – £1.30billion 

Don Carlo is among the most successful managers of all-time, and he has had the financial backing needed to achieve that success. If he wins the La Liga title this year, he will be the first manager to complete the full set of league titles across Europe’s big leagues. 

2. Pep Guardiola – £1.44billion 

Jack Grealish is the most expensive signing under Pep Guardiola, costing £100 million. He has spent €1 billion at Manchester City alone, and while he has transformed them into the best team domestically, success in the Champions League still evades the Catalonian coach. 

1. Jose Mourinho – £1.54billion 

The special one tops the list of the highest spending managers of all-time, and perhaps, to no one’s surprise. He has always demanded investment from the team that he coaches, and has been able to deliver with his methods as well. 

His three most expensive signings were all for Manchester United, with Paul Pogba leading the list. And despite all the criticism that United fans love to throw at him, they haven’t won a trophy since he left.