The Top Five Managers Who Have Spent The Most Money On Signings In Football History

David Tully

2 years ago

Categories: Galleries, Manchester United News, Transfer News

Tags: Arsenal, Aston Villa, celtic, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Rangers, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, West Ham, Wolves

Spending power is key to success in modern football, and while there are arguments that some clubs have “bought” their titles over the years, it is part of the game.

As you will see when we go through our list, no matter how good a coach you are, if you don’t have money to spend, it is very hard to be successful.

Every manager in our top five has won multiple trophies, with some of them up there with the very best coaches of all time.

Press the next page as we name the five managers who have spent the most on signings in football history (based on Transfermarkt‘s data).

5) Max Allegri – £969.73m

The Italian was in the dugout during Juventus’s years of lavish spending, with hefty sums being paid for the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala.

Allegri’s total will top £1bn when the fee for Dusan Vlahovic is included. The Serbian international was signed from Fiorentina during the January transfer window.

4) Manuel Pellegrini – £1.04bn

Considering the Chilean has only won five trophies during his career, it shows you that he hasn’t actually spent that well when he has been given the resources to splash the clash.

Saying that, though, Pellegrini signed both Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka for Real Madrid, while he also brought in Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling when he was Manchester City head coach.

3) Carlo Ancelotti – £1.29bn

The Italian has been around the block a bit, so it is not surprising that he is quite high on this list, particularly when you consider he has managed AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid (twice).

Ancelotti’s biggest purchases came during his first spell at Real, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez, while his third most expensive signing was the £50m spent to bring Fernando Torres to Chelsea from Liverpool.

2) Pep Guardiola – £1.44bn

The 51-year-old is one of the most successful coaches in club football but his spending (especially during his time with Manchester City) has been pretty extravagant.

Guardiola’s top three purchases are Jack Grealish, Zlatan Ibrahimovic (when he was at Barcelona) and Ruben Dias. He is the only manager that has spent £50m or more on nine separate occasions.

1) Jose Mourinho – £1.54bn

The Portuguese manager famously called himself the “Special One” as he praised his own managerial abilities at the start of his first stint at Chelsea, and while he has won numerous trophies, some of that has to be attributed to the amount of money he’s spent on players.

Mourinho’s top three most expensive signings all came during his time at Manchester United (Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku and Fred), but even the lavish spending couldn’t help him win a league title at Old Trafford.