Millions by the Bucketload: Europe’s Biggest Spending Coaches of the Last 15 Years
Pep Guardiola's merits were belittled by the budget he had at his disposal throughout his career. But how much money did he spend, and is he the coach with the biggest budget in Europe? We tell you which coaches have spent the most money in recent years.
Photos: Thomas Rodenbücher, IG-antonioconte, IG-mrancelotti
LatinAmerican Post | Javier Aldana
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Leer en español: Millones por montones: los entrenadores que más dinero gastaron en los últimos 15 años en Europa
The European football transfer market moves billions of euros each season and is a vital management for each club in pursuit of its goals. For this reason, leaders and coaching staff of each team plan the sale of soccer players and the purchase of players that guarantee good performance within their scheme for several years. There, the decision-making power of each coach becomes relevant, and the leaders must maneuver the club's budget based on their requests.
One of the coaches who has won the most titles by building great teams is the Spanish Pep Guardiola, who made his debut as a professional coach 15 years ago. However, many soccer fans dismiss his merits, accusing the current manager of England's Manchester City of having a much larger wallet than his rivals. Is he the coach who invested the most in his clubs?
The Six Coaches Who Spent the Most Money in the Last 15 Years
Since Guardiola made his debut as a professional coach at FC Barcelona in the 2008/09 season, many clubs and many coaches have spent billions of euros on transfers. According to the specialized portal Transfermarkt, in fifth place in the ranking of the coaches who invested the most money in transfers over the last 15 years there are two tied coaches: Diego Simeone and Antonio Conte, with an expense of approximately 1,170 million euros each.
The Argentine led five teams in that period of time (River Plate, San Lorenzo, Catania, Racing Club and Atlético de Madrid) and his most expensive signings were Joao Félix (€127.20 million), Thomas Lemar (72.00 million €) and Diego Costa (€60.00 million), all of them for Atlético Madrid. For his part, the Italian led seven teams (Bari, Atalanta, Siena, Juventus, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspurs) and his most expensive signings were Romeru Lukaku (€74.00 million) for Inter, Álvaro Morata (66 €.00 million) for Chelsea and Richarlison (€58.00 million) for Tottenham.
In fourth place is the Italian Carlo Ancelotti, who in those fifteen years led seven teams: A C Milan, Chelsea, PSG, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton and Real Madrid in two different periods. Finally, the Italian spent in said period the sum of approximately 1,270 million euros. Gareth Bale (€101.00 million), Aurélien Tchouaméni (€80.00 million) and James Rodríguez (€75.00 million) are his most expensive signings, all of them for Real Madrid.
The Italian Massimiliano Allegri is the third manager who spent the most money on transfers in the last fifteen years, despite having only coached three teams in that period: Cagliari, AC Milan and Juventus. As a result, Allegri spent approximately 1,310 million euros in the purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo (€117.00 million), Gonzalo Higuaín (€90.00 million) and Dušan Vlahović (€81.60 million). They were his most expensive signings, all of them for Juventus.
The second coach who spent the most money was the Portuguese José Mourinho, with 1,460 million euros. At the same time, 'Mou' coached six teams: Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs and Roma. Finally, the contracts in which the Portuguese spent the most occurred during his period managing Manchester United when he signed Paul Pogbá (€105.00 million), Romelu Lukaku (€84.70 million) and Fred (€59.00 million).
Guardiola: the Coach with the Most Millions of Euros at His Disposal
The coach who spent the most money on transfers in the last 15 years was Pep Guardiola. In that period of time, the Spaniard managed only three teams: FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Similarly, in those 15 years Guardiola spent approximately 1,790 million euros and his most expensive signings were Jack Grealish (€117.50 million), Rúben Dias (€71.60 million) and Rodri (€70.00 million), all of them for Manchester City.
Similarly, the signings of Zlatan Ibrahimović (€69.50 million plus Samuel Eto´o) for Barcelona and Riyad Mahrez (€67.80 million) for Manchester City stand out. Likewise, it should be noted that in the list of players hired by Guardiola for his teams, there are up to 13 signings that exceeded the barrier of 50.00 million euros.
Likewise, the fact that Guardiola spent 1,790 million euros, only on 73 players, is surprising. He is the second coach with the fewest number of players signed compared to the other coaches mentioned, only behind Carlo Ancelotti. It is also striking that Guardiola is the coach who has spent the most money in the last 15 years, despite not directing any team in the 2012/13 season.
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Pep Guardiola managed to mark an era in modern football. However, it is undeniable the great monetary help he had, compared to the other technicians since he debuted. Finally, in his current stage, the Spanish coach makes the most of the great support of Manchester City, owned by sheikhs, in order to achieve the first Champions League in its history.
However, Guardiola's statements are surprising, in which he states that "some have gone crazy to win the Champions League" without taking into account that Manchester City under his command invested 1,242 million euros. The club is going through its golden age with Pep Guardiola and his millionaire signings, so money is buying the happiness of all the fans of the 'Ciudadano' team.
