Coach with the most expensive signings: Guardiola breaks the 2 billion mark

Expenses & income in comparison

Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola was able to strengthen the most valuable squad in the world this summer for 241 million euros – this spending makes him the first coach in football history to have new additions for over 2 billion euros (for spending statistics). The transfer of Matheus Nunes set the record on deadline day. With now 2.04 billion euros, Guardiola has overtaken Roma coach José Mourinho, who was more frugal than ever this summer and has 1.86 billion euros in transfer spending over his career.

In his 16 years as coach, Guardiola received 78 players for whom a transfer fee was due. His additions cost an average of 26.1 million euros per transfer. This sum is possible because he has worked exclusively for wealthy clubs with FC Barcelona, ​​FC Bayern and Manchester City – for the “Citizens” for seven years, with whom he won the treble in 2023.

Also Klopp there: Eleven coaches with transfer expenses beyond the billion mark

Mauricio Pochettino (Chelsea), Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool) and Unai Emery (Aston Villa) also broke the billion mark in terms of transfer spending this summer. With a total of €920m, Al-Hilals’ Jorge Jesus will soon become the twelfth manager in history to record signings worth over €1bn, with the Portuguese signings worth €353m this summer alone. As coach of Benfica and Sporting, Jesus used to be known for expensive departures: with 130 sales of the players he coached, his ex-clubs generated income of 764 million euros – making him the coach with the highest transfer income tenth place.

Guardiola is also involved when it comes to transfer income: 86 departures brought 978 million euros in transfer fees into the coffers of his clubs – putting him in third place. A remarkable sum considering that in Barcelona, ​​Munich and Manchester he hardly let a player go who he really wanted to keep.

Things looked and look completely different for Atlético legend Diego Simeone. In his almost twelve years with the “Colchoneros” he almost achieved a balanced transfer balance, with which he made the second largest club in Madrid one of the most successful clubs in Europe. Transfer expenses of 1.21 billion euros for 82 players are compared to income of 1.13 billion euros from transfers in Simeone’s coaching career.

No other coach generated such a large sum by selling the players he coached. “El Cholo”‘s contract expires on June 30, 2024, this summer transfer window could be his last as Atlético manager, while Guardiola (contract until 2025) has at least one summer left to build on the spending record.

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