Premier League clubs spending these past 3 seasons – Very interesting where Newcastle are placed


 
 
 
 
 
 

A new report has been published on spending by Premier League clubs these past three seasons.

Newcastle United claimed by so many to have such an unfair advantage as the ‘richest club in the world’ supposedly.

So many journalist/media and fans of other clubs claiming what a disgrace it is etc.

Newcastle United they reckon, simply buying success, others not able to match the spending and so on.

Anybody could have done what Eddie Howe has achieved these past three years, or so these outsiders believe. Or is that, they want to believe (wish!!) it is true?

Well, some excellent analysis, as usual, from Swiss Ramble, has made public exactly how much each of the current 20 Premier League clubs have spent on players in recent years/transfer windows.

Swiss Ramble describes himself modestly as a ‘Brit blogging from Switzerland, usually about the business of football’ but he is the go to person when it comes to this kind of analysis.

He has looked at the total gross spending (all money spent on players, not the net figure which would deduct money received from selling players) of all 20 Premier League clubs in the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.

Swiss Ramble using a formula of the estimated spending stats for each of the 20 Premier League clubs, then  added 20% to each of those totals to cover the agents fees which are now the norm across the board.

As Swiss Ramble states alongside this table when publishing the figures…

“Extending the analysis to cover three years shows that Chelsea have spent exactly £1.5 bln, an unprecedented amount in such a short timeframe.

“More than twice as much as any other club:

Manchester United £678m, Arsenal £608m, Tottenham £578m and Manchester City £517m, Liverpool only £356m.”

Newcastle United as you can see, having spent £384m in this same time period on new signings.

Chelsea spending four times as much as Newcastle United.

Man U, Arsenal and Tottenham getting on for spending twice as much as Newcastle United. Then bear in mind they had far better and more expensive squads already than NUFC, before these past three seasons of spending.

Manchester City only fifth highest of the ‘big six’ with £517m spending these past three seasons, whilst Liverpool (£356m) actually slightly below Newcastle United.

However, you have to compare the state Newcastle United were in post-Mike Ashley.

The season immediately before this table of spending by Premier League clubs, Manchester City and Liverpool had by far the best squads in the division, by a massive distance. They finished the 2021/22 season on 93 and 92 points respectively, with Chelsea a distant third place on 74 points.

These stats above don’t cover the very first Eddie Howe/new Newcastle United owners window. However, reality is that that was an emergency relegation mid-season situation inherited from Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce, a weak and demoralised squad needing critical short-term assistance, with mature experienced older players needed to come in and do an instant job, so money spent on the likes of Wood, Trippier and Burn, as well as Bruno, who didn’t make his debut for six weeks as Eddie Howe nursed him in.

This Swiss Ramble analysis shows that the relative success at Newcastle United has been down to the brilliance of Eddie Howe and the rest of the recruitment team, Howe picking brilliant players to sign at great prices, then working with them AND inherited players to get them playing at such a high level.

Mischief makers such as Simon Jordan claim Eddie Howe will/should be sacked at the end of the season if Newcastle United don’t manage to do whatever in Premier League and/or cups, due to the ‘expectations’ at NUFC now.

He and others speak like Newcastle United have done what both Man City and Chelsea (and still continue to do, to ridiculous levels!) did in the past, spending fortunes. This simply isn’t the case. The ‘big six’ have a massive advantage on Newcastle United when it comes to the ability to spend money on transfer fees AND wages.

To try and bridge the gap, Newcastle United only able to compete in any kind of way due to Eddie Howe. Imagine if we’d had a Jose Mourinho or Erik ten Hag at Newcastle United choosing which players are bought, I think the outlook would be dismal for sure.