Some of the money spent this summer is verging on crazy…
10) Borussia Dortmund – £44m (Mkhitaryan, Sokratis, Aubameyang)
The Champions League runners-up have spent their Mario Gotze money well, beating Liverpool to the signature of Armenian goalscorer Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
9) Anzhi – £45m (Samba, Kokorin, Denisov, Ionov, Kerzhakov)
The Russian club have bought Russian predominantly, although bizarrely shelled out £10.5m on Christopher Samba, after selling him to relegated QPR for the same fee six months ago.
8) Tottenham Hotspur – £51m (Paulinho, Nacer Chadli, Roberto Soldado)
Spurs have signed quality this summer, and expect Soldado and Paulinho to improve the squad especially. If Bale is sold however, they could have another £100m to spend.
7) Bayern Munich – £54m (Mario Gotze, Thiago)
The treble-winners have made their invincible squad even better this summer, acquiring two of the best young talents in the world. Surely favourites to retain the European Cup this year.
6) Barcelona – £61m (Neymar, Bojan)
Barcelona won the race to world football’s hottest property, signing Neymar for £50m. They have another £30m or so spare to bring in a much needed top-notch centre-half.
5) Real Madrid – £64m (Illaramendi, Isco, Casemiro, Carvajal)
Expect Real Madrid to fly to the top of this list if a deal for Bale is completed. They’ve still managed to spend £64m on young talent already.
4) Napoli – £70m (Higuain, Albiol, Callejon, Mertens, Armero, Calaio, Rafael, Radosevic)
Thanks to the £55m Cavani money, new boss Rafa Benitez has enjoyed an exciting first transfer window in charge. Higuian, Albiol and Callejon and Reina on loan look like very good signings.
3) PSG – £97m (Edinson Cavani, Marquinhos, Lucas Digne)
The Parisians have spent crazy money again this summer, on one of the world’s best strikers, and two brilliant teenage defenders. It will be interesting to see whether Cavani can link up with the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic this term.
2) Manchester City – £98m (Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic, Fernandinho, Jesus Navas)
Manuel Pellegrini has raided La Liga to bring in Spanish talent Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo – and he will hope his big-money signings secure him a debut Premier League title.
1) Monaco – £130m (Falcao, Moutinho, Rodriguez, Carvalho, Toulalan, Fabinho, Isamat-Mirin, Abidal)
Wow – Monaco have already spent £130m, and they haven’t tied up a deal for Hulk yet either, which could set them back an extra £40m. £53m Colombian forward Falcao arrives as the star signing – and it will only be a matter of time before we see the newly promoted provincial club playing Champions League football.
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