Which club is responsible for the most expensive transfer window EVER?
Football’s biggest clubs have spent some staggering sums in pursuit of success, with the £400m barrier now well and truly broken.
But which spending spree tops them all? We rank the 10 most expensive transfer windows in football history.
10. Chelsea – Winter 2022/23: £278m
Chelsea’s first full season under their new ownership produced a January window unlike anything seen before.
Enzo Fernandez was the headline arrival for a then-British record fee, while Mykhailo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto and several others also arrived during a remarkable month of spending.
9. Real Madrid – Summer 2019/20: £279m
Real Madrid went big as they attempted to refresh an ageing squad, with Eden Hazard arriving from Chelsea as their marquee signing.
Eder Militao, Luka Jovic, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo were among the other additions in a window that ultimately produced very mixed results.
8. Chelsea – Summer 2025/26: £282.2m
Another Chelsea window, and this one included a mixture of young talent and established Premier League names.
Estevao, Dario Essugo, Mamadou Sarr and Kendry Paez were joined by Joao Pedro, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens, Jorrel Hato and Alejandro Garnacho as Chelsea once again invested heavily in their squad.
7. PSG – Summer 2023/24: £295m
Paris Saint-Germain spent close to £300m as they began reshaping their squad.
Randal Kolo Muani and Manuel Ugarte commanded significant fees, but Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola would prove to be particularly important additions.
6. Al-Hilal – Summer 2023/24: £298m
The Saudi Pro League exploded onto the transfer market in 2023, and nobody spent more that summer than Al-Hilal.
Neymar, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Malcom and Kalidou Koulibaly were among a remarkable collection of arrivals, with Al-Hilal going on to win the league.
5. Tottenham – Summer 2026/27: £314.12m
Back-to-back 17th-place finishes demanded a response, and Tottenham certainly provided one in the transfer market.
More than £300m was spent on a major rebuild featuring Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Savio and Jan Paul van Hecke, giving Roberto De Zerbi a dramatically different squad.
4. Chelsea – Summer 2026/27: £348.83m
Chelsea make their third appearance on this list after another enormous summer of activity.
The headline deal was a club-record move for Morgan Rogers, while Maxence Lacroix, Marco Palestra, Geovany Quenda and Valentin Barco were among a long list of additions.
Chelsea also generated huge sums through departures, including the £125m sale of Enzo Fernandez to Manchester City.
3. Chelsea – Summer 2023/24: £391m
For a time, this looked like a transfer-window record that would take some beating.
Chelsea brought in Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Axel Disasi, Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku, with 11 players arriving for fees above £10m.
Remarkably, two clubs have since gone even bigger.
2. Liverpool – Summer 2025/26: £439.8m
Liverpool smashed through the £400m barrier during an extraordinary spending spree.
Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike were the three blockbuster additions, while Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, Giovanni Leoni and Giorgi Mamardashvili added even more to the bill.
Last year it made made Liverpool’s summer the most expensive transfer window in football history.
1. Manchester City – Summer 2026/27: £451.33m
Manchester City’s first summer under Enzo Maresca resulted in an incredible £451.33m transfer spend, with two players alone arriving for more than £100m.
Enzo Fernandez (£125m) and Elliot Anderson (£116m) were joined by Ayyoub Bouaddi and Iliman Ndiaye as City completely rebuilt their midfield and reshaped their squad.
City also raised significant money through sales, but their extraordinary outlay still makes the summer of 2026 the most expensive transfer window by a single club in football history.
| Rank | Club | Window | Spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester City | Summer 2026/27 | £451.33m |
| 2 | Liverpool | Summer 2025/26 | £439.8m |
| 3 | Chelsea | Summer 2023/24 | £391m |
| 4 | Chelsea | Summer 2026/27 | £348.83m |
| 5 | Tottenham | Summer 2026/27 | £314.12m |
| 6 | Al-Hilal | Summer 2023/24 | £298m |
| 7 | PSG | Summer 2023/24 | £295m |
| 8 | Chelsea | Summer 2025/26 | £282.2m |
| 9 | Real Madrid | Summer 2019/20 | £279m |
| 10 | Chelsea | Winter 2022/23 | £278m |
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