To be a successful football manager, you don’t necessarily need to spend big money on signings – but it certainly helps.
Indeed, some managers have forked out huge sums when it comes to recruiting talent on their way to amassing enviable trophy cabinets.
In honour of those who have splashed the cash, the people over at Planet Football have devised a list of the top 10 managers with the highest total spend in history.
And while some of the coaches mentioned will come as little surprise, there are a few names that may well shock you.
Check out the top 10 below:
- 10. Claudio Ranieri – €864.33 million
Given he famously inspired Leicester to a Premier League title with minimal resources in 2016, many might not have expected Ranieri to feature.
But the Italian’s stints with other clubs have not been rags-to-riches stories by any means.
Having managed a whopping 18 clubs in his career, Ranieri spent big at the likes of Chelsea and Juventus.
His biggest outlays came while he was at Monaco when he signed Colombian duo Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez for a combined total of €88million.
- 9. Ernesto Valverde – €866.83 million
Valverde formerly managed Barcelona for three seasons from 2017-2019 and the club went absolutely bonkers when it came to transfers during that time.
Having sold Neymar, Valverde brought in Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho for a combined €222 million.
The Spaniard now manages Bilbao and, as you’d expect, has not been afforded anywhere near the same transfer budget.
Conte has spent sizeable amounts at almost every club he’s managed across the past decade.
This approach led to numerous trophy successes in Italy and with Chelsea, though it did not work in quite the same way at Tottenham.
Despite bringing in 12 players during the 2022/23 season, including Richarlison, Yves Bissouma, and Pedro Porro for big fees, Conte won no silverware during his time with the club.
Wenger’s spending in the late 1990s and early 2000s led to a number of trophy triumphs.
Yet, as his tenure went on, his signings became increasingly more questionable.
Shkodran Mustafi being signed for £35 million a case in point.
Simeone has long been hailed for managing to get Atletico Madrid to compete with Real Madrid and Barcelona.
And though he deserves immense credit for the job he has done, the Argentine has still spent more than a billion euros.
Portuguese star Joao Felix is the most expensive of his recruits, signing for €127million.
Yet, Felix has struggled to adapt to Simeone’s system and is now on loan at Chelsea.
- 5. Massimiliano Allegri – €1.08 billion
Allegri was not afraid to dip into the transfer market while managing AC Milan, but his spending went through the roof after taking over Juventus.
Gonzalo Higuain was purchased for €90 million before Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in 2018 for a staggering €117 million.
- 4. Manuel Pellegrini – €1.16 billion
Pellegrini has managed the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City, so it probably won’t shock you to see him featured here.
It was the Argentine who was in charge of Los Blancos during their famous summer of 2009 when they signed Ronaldo, Kaka, and Karim Benzema during the same transfer window.
He even spent big while managing West Ham – twice breaking the Hammers’ record transfer fee. First for Felipe Anderson and then for Sebastien Haller.
Neither player, however, enjoyed a fruitful career in east London.
With four Champions League titles to his name, Ancelotti is one of the most decorated managers in history.
However, he has spent an inordinate sum of money to achieve this success.
Ancelotti’s most expensive signing was none other than Gareth Bale, who signed for Madrid for €105 million in 2013.
Guardiola has won trophies at every club he’s managed, though he’s also had money to burn at all three of them.
Interestingly, despite all of the big names he’s brought in and nurtured over the years, his record signing is Jack Grealish – having bought the English winger for £100 million in the summer of 2021.
Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be.
Mourinho was afforded cash to splash by Roman Abramovich during his two stints as Chelsea boss, and he had plenty to spend while at Madrid as well.
His three biggest outlays, however, came as Manchester United manager, where he brought in Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, and Fred for a combined total of more than €220 million.
Have any of these players turned out to be a success at United? We’ll let you be the judge of that.
