As reported by the Centre International d’Étude du Sport (International Centre for the Study of Sport, CIES), Lille and Lyon have been the most profitable clubs in terms of transfers over the last 10 years, throughout the top 5 European leagues.
Today the CIES published their findings on the cumulative figures of transfers throughout the last decade. While Manchester United topped the relative spending table (-€1.075bn net), PSG (-€941m) were marginally behind Manchester City (-€984m) in third.
While Nice (-€8m) and Marseille (-€119m) have also spent more than they’ve received, all other 17 Ligue 1 clubs have a net transfer profit. In comparison, Brentford are the only Premier League club with a net profit. La Liga has 11 teams in the green, the Bundesliga has 9 and Serie A has 8.
Lille have the greatest positive figure of all five European leagues with €349m, followed by Lyon with €247m. Preceded by three Serie A sides in 3rd, 4th and 5th (Genoa, Udinese, Atalanta), Montpellier (€116m) rank sixth in Europe and third in France.
Lille’s position has been helped by high profile sales in the last decade such as Eden Hazard (Chelsea €35m), Nicolas Pépé (Arsenal €80m) and Victor Osimhen (Napoli €75m), among others.