Before every new season, fans are excited to see new arrivals in their clubs, and who doesn’t want a big name in their team. With the transfer fees reaching ridiculously high levels, often clubs looking to sell, make huge asks. Major funds are involved in major transfers. There is no bargain (except a handful few) these days.
While the buying club gets the player they desire, the seller club (often forgotten) makes a huge amount of money. More than often the seller clubs win the transfer window. Interestingly enough, Transfermarkt released a list of European clubs to have banked the most in the way of fees since 2011 on Reddit.
1st: Benfica
Benfica leads the list, having made a remarkable €1.05bn over the last decade. The Portuguese giants raised the huge sum much courtesy to their headline departures in the likes of Joao Felix, Ruben Dias, and Ederson in more recent times. Then again the likes of Angel di Maria, David Luiz, and Nemanja Matic in the mid-to-late-2010s, contributed much to the revenue as well.
2nd: Atletico Madrid
Atletico managed to raise €1.02bn by the sales of players like Antoine Greizmann, Sergio Aguero, Rodri, Diego Costa, and Thomas Partey to name a few. But their successes in the decade have also seen them largely reinvest the revenue as well. Their biggest departures consist of the most elite names in the footballing world.
3rd: Chelsea FC
In the last decade, Chelsea has won 2 Premier League titles, 2 FA Cups, 2 Europa League, 2 Champions Leagues, and the League Cup. They have always been glorified for the huge money investments they make in bringing top players to the club. But it seems that they’re much better at sending players the other way round as well. Sales of big names like Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Oscar, and David Luiz have helped them raise €1bn in transfer fees.
4th: AS Monaco
The French side, AS Monaco, made a huge €968.2m through sales. This was highly contributed by the transfers of Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar, Fabinho, and Benjamin Mendy to name a few. Monaco knows business when opportunity strikes.
5th: Juventus
Juventus used to rule transfer windows at the beginning of the said period. Sales of Paul Pogba, Joao Cancelo, and Leonardo Bonucci brought in big money. They raised almost €963.1m.
6th: Barcelona
Barcelona is next on the list having made €925.4m. The Catalan giant raised a lot of this through the sales of big names like Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas, and Arthur. But the biggest contributor was Neymar’s move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. This transfer still holds the record for the costliest ever.
7th: Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund raised €876.5m by the sales of big prospects like Aubameyang, and Dembele to name a few.
8th: AS Roma
AS Roma has raised €848.5m which is impressive for the club.
9th: Real Madrid
Real Madrid quite uncharacteristically sits at the bottom of a top 10 list. Their numbers are largely aided by the gains of the Cristiano Ronaldo deal in 2018. Ninth on the list, Real has raised €829.5m.
10th: FC Porto
Porto completes the top 10 list with a total of €772.1m. These were the masters of the transfer market as it statistically stands.
