CIES Football Observatory: How Brighton's decade of transfer spend compares to Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton and Aston Villa's staggering outlay

Chelsea and Arsenal have suffered the greatest losses on transfer dealings in world football over the last decade, new figures have revealed.

An analysis of money spent and recouped on non-academy players signed and transferred between 2014 and 2023 by the CIES Football Observatory shows the two Premier League rivals have invested hundreds of millions pounds more than they have clawed back in sales.

Barcelona, who paid Liverpool £130million for Philippe Coutinho and sold him to Aston Villa for £17m, top the table of the 50 biggest losers on 631 million euros (around £540m).

Chelsea, who have spent in excess of £1billion since the Todd Boehly-led takeover in May 2022, are not far behind on 483m euros (£413.2m), while Arsenal sit in third place on 436m euros (£373m), due in part to the £72m capture of Nicolas Pepe and subsequent departure to Trabzonspor on a free transfer.

In all, six clubs from England’s top flight – Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Everton and Liverpool – appear in the top 10.

Sky Bet Championship outfit Stoke sit in 16th, with League One side Derby in 48th, one position higher than European and world club champions Manchester City, whose deficit after a total spend of £658m amounted to £50.5m.

Newcastle, who were taken over by Amanda Staveley’s 80 per cent Saudi-backed consortium in October 2021 and have since spent in excess of £400m on players, are said to have lost £81.3m, around £8.6m more than derby rivals Sunderland, who spent four seasons in League One during the relevant period.

There were winners too with Ligue 1 side Lille enjoying the biggest total profit, due in large part to the transfers of Pepe – who cost them just £9m – Victor Osimhen and Sven Botman.

The French club recorded a profit on dealings of £386m euros (£330m) with Ajax, who reaped the reward of their investments in the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Antony and Lisandro Martinez to finish 317m euros (£271m) in the black.

Brentford and Brighton were the only Premier League clubs to make the top 50 in 26th and 29th places respectively, the Bees £84.7m to the good and the Seagulls £77.9m.

The Seagulls are known for their shrewd approach in the transfer market and have established themselves as one of the top teams in the Premier League and across Europe despite selling many of their best players.

Moises Caicedo (£115m to Chelsea) Marc Cucurella (£63m to Chelsea), Ben White (£50m to Arsenal) Alexis Mac Allister (£35m to Liverpool), Yes Bissouma (£30m to Tottenham), Leo Trossard (£30m to Arsenal) and Rob Sanchez (£25m to Chelsea) have all been brought in for modest fees – or free – and sold on for vast profits.

The £30m Brighton paid to Watford for Brazilian striker Joao Pedro remains their record outlay for a player. The 22-year-old has however enjoyed a fine season and is now valued close to £100m mark..