Southampton at the top, Barça set record: The clubs with the biggest transfer profits

©TM/IMAGO

On the pitch, Southampton were relegated from the Premier League, but in the global ranking of clubs with the highest transfer profits in the summer of 2023, the Saints are at the top by a clear margin: the English club cleverly sold their most-wanted players after relegation and generated €162 million profit on the transfer market – a figure that no other club comes close to.

Most of the money was transferred from the capital to the south of England for the services of midfielder Roméo Lavia, Chelsea paid a fee of €62.1m. Only Virgil van Dijk, who left St Mary’s for €84.65m for Liverpool in January 2018, raised a higher amount in the club's history.

Market Value

R. LaviaDefensive Midfield

€50.00m

In Tino Livramento (for €37.2m to Newcastle), James Ward-Prowse (for €34.8m to West Ham) and right winger Nathan Tella, who joined Bayer Leverkusen for €23.3m, three more departures rank higher in the Saints’ record sales statistic. In addition to the income from permanent transfers, Southampton also made around €5m in loan fees, including the transfer of Germany international Armel Bella-Kotchap to PSV Eindhoven.

Southampton’s transfer income of €182m was topped only by Brighton (€190m) and Bundesliga side RB Leipzig (€241m) in the latest transfer window. While the Seagulls sold Moisés Caicedo to Chelsea for a club-record fee of €116m and, among others, lost World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister to Liverpool for €42m, the Germans cashed in with the sales of their top performers Josko Gvardiol (for €90m to Man City), Dominik Szoboszlai (for €70m to Liverpool) and Christopher Nkunku (for €60m to Chelsea). However, since both clubs also invested heavily compared to Southampton, they only find themselves in fourth and fifth place in the transfer profit ranking.

Clubs with biggest transfer profits: Barcelona set record

Ahead of them are two Spanish teams, Barcelona, and Villarreal. With around €105m in income, including the sales of Ousmane Dembélé (for €50m to PSG) and Antoine Griezmann (for €20m to Atlético), and only €3.4m spent, the Catalans set a new club record. Since the financially troubled Spanish champions primarily signed players on free transfers and loan deals for reasons of financial fair play, they generated the biggest transfer profit in the club’s history this summer.

Market Value

N. JacksonCentre-Forward

€35.00m

Villarreal only invested in Leipzig’s Alexander Sørloth (€10m) and Girona’s Ramón Terrats (€2.5m) but made €110m from selling top performers such as centre-forward Nicolas Jackson (for €37m to Chelsea), Pau Torres (for €33m to Aston Villa) and Samuel Chukwueze (for €20m to AC Milan), among others.

Leicester, who profited handsomely from the sales of James Maddison (for €46.5m to Tottenham) and Harvey Barnes (for €44m to Newcastle), among others, are another club relegated from the Premier League in the top 15, boasting a plus of €62m in the summer transfer window.

Market Value

J. MaddisonAttacking Midfield

€70.00m

Wolverhampton are the fourth English side to occupy a place in the top 20 of the ranking. Thanks mainly to Matheus Nunes (for €62m to Man City), Wolves made €75m more than they spent and thus occupy tenth place in the ranking of clubs with the biggest transfer profits.