Squad values: PSG and Saudi Pro League teams on the up - Premier League dominates top 5

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Paris Saint-Germain are the biggest winner during the summer transfer window in terms of increasing the club’s squad value. PSG have increased their squad value by €283.7 million. The Ligue 1 club made up five spots in the squad ranking and is now one of just three clubs with a squad value of more than one billion euros. Among the big winners are also the two clubs from the new financial powerhouse Saudi Pro League: Al-Ahli SFC and Al-Hilal SFC. Among the five teams with the biggest decrease in squad value are three Bundesliga teams, which can be partly blamed on PSG.

A glimpse into the Transfermarkt database highlights that among the clubs playing in Europe’s top five leagues and the state-sponsored Saudi Pro League, no team has seen a bigger increase in squad value than PSG. The overall squad value of the Qatari-owned club grew from €800.1m at the end of June—or before the transfer window opened—to €1.08 billion. PSG sold players with an overall market value of €266.1m, but after spending a club record €349.5m, the club added €546.3m in squad value. 

Market Value

R. Kolo Muani Centre-Forward

€60.00m

Ahead of deadline day, Ousmane Dembélé was the most valuable player with a market value of €60m. But then, late on deadline day, PSG also added Randal Kolo Muani from Eintracht Frankfurt in a deal worth €95m and a market value of €80m. 

Squad values 2023: Frankfurt, Leipzig, Dortmund and Wolverhampton drop

While PSG saw their market value increase significantly, their additions had an impact on other clubs. In fact, Kolo Muani’s former club, Eintracht Frankfurt are among the biggest losers in the squad value ranking. Frankfurt saw their squad value drop by €120.4m to €170.1m after the club lost Evan Ndicka, Jesper Lindstrøm, Daichi Kamada and Djibril Sow. Those four had a combined market value of €105m. Once Kolo Muani and the club’s new signings are added, the overall drop in squad value is only topped by Wolverhampton Wanderers, whose overall drop was just slightly more: €120.8m. 

Ranking just behind Frankfurt and Wolves are two more Bundesliga clubs—Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig—and LaLiga side Villarreal. Dortmund saw their squad value drop by -€83.2m, mostly due to Jude Bellingham’s transfer to Real Madrid. With a market value of €120m, Bellingham was the most valuable player in the Bundesliga before he left for Spain this summer. Leipzig lost Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea), Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool), and Josko Gvardiol (Man City) to Premier League clubs, and despite some promising new signings, the overall squad value dropped by -€66.7m during the summer transfer window. Villarreal, in the meantime, saw their squad value drop by -€68.5m. The LaLiga is, therefore, sandwiched right between Dortmund and Leipzig among the club’s biggest losers in squad values.  

Market Value

J. Bellingham Attacking Midfield

€180.00m

Movement among the top 5 most valuable clubs – Bayern Munich are out

The Premier League once again has three clubs in the top five of the most valuable squads on the planet. But there was some slight movement at the very top. Treble-winners Manchester City remains at the very top ahead ofArsenal and PSG. Real Madrid, in the meantime, benefit from adding Bellingham and move ahead of Chelsea, who, despite an investment of about €500m, were only able to increase the squad value by €7.8m. 

Club Comparison

Manchester City

Arsenal FC

Premier League

Premier League

€1.27bn

Market Value

€1.12bn

First Tier

League Level

First Tier

€259.60m

Expenditures 23/24

€234.94m

Pep Guardiola

Managers

Mikel Arteta

Full Club Comparison

No longer in the top five are Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, thanks to a squad value drop of €12.2m during the summer transfer window. In Harry Kane and Min-Jae Kim, Bayern Munich added two players with a combined market value of €150m but also lost six players with significant market values. Furthermore, Bayern also missed out on signing João Palhinha on deadline day, who would have added €40m in market value to the squad. 

Market Value

H. Kane Centre-Forward

€110.00m

For Saudi Pro League clubs, the transfer window remains open until Sep. 7. The league has not only added several older stars but also some promising younger talent for significant transfer fees. The most active teams were Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli. Both are among the top 10 teams with the highest transfer spending during the 2023/24 season, which is also reflected in their respective squad values. Al-Ahli have seen their squad value increase by €187.4m to €201.3m and Al-Hilal by €184.6m to €259.5. Only PSG had a bigger increase in squad value this summer. But both teams still have time to catch the Ligue 1 club.