FootItalia has analysed historic transfer data for all 20 Premier League sides to find out which clubs have spent and received the most in fees with other Premier League clubs. Using data from the 2009-10 season onwards, we have been able to calculate the top three trading partners for each club, and see which clubs have special trading partnerships.
The figures show that Chelsea are spending kings, paying a whopping £535,000,000 to fellow Premier League sides. Arsenal are second with £323,550,000 and Manchester City 3rd with £312,976,000. We have also revealed the number of players each club has traded with each other within the league. This showed Manchester City and Aston Villa have transferred 10 players between the two clubs since 2009-10.
Key Data Points:
- Chelsea top intra-Premier League spending with £535M since 2009-10
- Manchester City and Aston Villa have traded 10 players between them, more than any other two clubs.
- Arsenal have bought seven players from Chelsea, the most from a single club.
Top 6 Trading: Which Top 6 Club has Given the Most to / Received the Most from Other Clubs
Below, we have listed how much each of the traditional ‘Big Six’ clubs has given to and received from their top Premier League trading partners.
1 . Chelsea: Most Given To – Brighton £232,000,000 | Most Received From – Arsenal £147,437,000
2 . Liverpool: Most Given To – Southampton £173,160,000 | Most Received From – Chelsea £68,441,000
3 . Manchester City: Most Given To – Aston Villa £142,854,000 | Most Received From – Chelsea £95,688,000
4 . Arsenal: Most Given To – Chelsea £147,437,000 | Most Received From – Manchester United £56,000,000
5 . Manchester United: Most Given To – Chelsea £136,100,000 | Most Received From – Arsenal £46,766,000
6 . Tottenham: Most Given To – West Ham £60,216,000 | Most Received From – Manchester City £45,627,000
The data shows Chelsea are the biggest spenders in the league, with Brighton the main beneficiaries.
Liverpool have the second-highest spend on Premier League players. The £173.2M spent on Southampton players alone is a reminder of why the Saints were sometimes known as ‘Liverpool B’ during the mid 2010s.
Arsenal and Manchester United have bought the most from other Big Six rivals. This shows that both clubs prefer to rely on proven Premier League talent.
And despite clubs seeing each other as ‘rivals’, the league’s top clubs have a huge volume of transfers between themselves.
Trading Places: Premier League Clubs Trading Partnerships
Below are the clubs that have had the highest volume of players transferred between them since the 09/10 season:
1 . Manchester City and Aston Villa – 10 transfers | 5 from Villa to City | 5 from City to Villa
2 . Arsenal and Chelsea – 8 transfers | 7 from Chelsea to Arsenal | 1 from Arsenal to Chelsea
3. Liverpool and Southampton – 7 transfers | 6 from Southampton to Liverpool | 1 from Liverpool to Southampton
For Man City and Liverpool, it’s clear that both clubs have a habit of poaching talent from certain clubs that they believe are ready to step up to the top level.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have been shown to cherry-pick players from Chelsea, often hoping to get more out of them than their London rivals.
Remaining 14 Clubs: Who have they Received the Most From?
The below data shows which clubs each of the remaining 14 Premier League sides have earned the most in fees from since 2009-10.
- Brighton: Chelsea – £232,000,000
- Aston Villa: Manchester City – £142,854,000
- Everton: Manchester United – £101,000,000
- West Ham: Arsenal – £100,998,000
- Wolves: Manchester City – £85,576,000
- Nottingham Forest: Newcastle – £83,343,000
- Newcastle: Liverpool – £66,275,000
- Brentford: Manchester United – £64,998,000
- Crystal Palace: Manchester United – £57,815,000
- Bournemouth: Tottenham – £55,000,000
- Leeds: Bournemouth – £49,642,000
- Fulham: Tottenham – £46.353,000
- Burnley: Everton – £39,422,000
- Sunderland: Liverpool – £24,775,000
Clearly, Brighton have been bankrolled by Chelsea in recent years. The two clubs seem to have a good relationship, with players frequently completing big-money moves from the South Coast to Stamford Bridge.
Overall, Big Six clubs are the most likely to be a lower-table team’s biggest beneficiary, being the case for 10/14 sides.
Brighton and Aston Villa have earned massive sums from Premier League rivals, showing their reputation as breeding ground for elite talents.
Lee Astley, head of news at FootItalia, said: “What this data shows is that top-level Premier League clubs trade with each other far more than might be expected.
“Arsenal’s reliance on buying Chelsea players goes against what many believe about players moving to rival clubs.
“For the likes of Aston Villa and Brighton, selling top talent to clubs further up the table has been a successful business model.
“Villa’s £100M sale of Jack Grealish to Man City and Chelsea’s regular raids of Brighton demonstrate how such business can benefit all involved.”
Methodology:
To obtain the data for these Premier League transfer stats since the 09/10 season, FootItalia used www.transfermarkt.co.uk ‘s ‘All Time Transfer History’ section for each club, then recorded every permanent transfer between Premier League clubs since 2009-10.
All fee amounts have been converted from Euros to Pounds, as per Transfermarkt’s data.
