The 10 highest spending managers across world football since 2022-23

Premier League managers dominate the list of the top 10 highest-spending managers across world football over the last few seasons.

Every manager in the professional game would love a war chest to spend upon joining a club, but there are a few who insist that they simply cannot do their job without that financial freedom.

However, as you’ll see in a rather surprising top 10, not every manager in here has made the most of their spending. Read on to find out which managers have spent the most money on transfers since 2022-23.

Note: Figures have been taken from Transfermarkt.

10. Steve Cooper – €386.85million

Cooper creeps in at 10, spending in excess of £300million but on a whopping 34 players across two clubs.

He oversaw a massive squad turnover at Nottingham Forest when they were promoted to the Premier League and stayed in his post as they avoided relegation in 2022-23, but was sacked months into the 2023-24 season.

The Welsh manager took over at Leicester City in the summer of 2024 and oversaw nine new signings.

9. Eddie Howe – €401.65million

Being bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund at newly-rich Newcastle, Howe has been able to spend freely in the transfer market for the last few seasons, although Newcastle have recently found themselves hamstrung by PSR.

Some big money signings propping up that expenditure include the £62million club-record signing of Alexander Isak, £55million on Sandro Tonali and £40million on Bruno Guimaraes.

8. Ange Postecoglou – €419.83million

The Australian was a hit in Scotland with Celtic and earned a move to the Premier League with Tottenham as a result in 2023, where he’s been able to spend a lot more money than ever before.

Spurs spent big this summer on Dominic Solanke and had to reach into their pockets to win the race for Leeds’ Archie Gray, but also spent big ahead of Big Ange’s first season in charge with the likes of Brennan Johnson, James Maddison and Micky van de Ven – a lot of which was offset by Harry Kane’s £100million move to Bayern Munich.

7. Pep Guardiola – €439.6million

For all of Manchester City’s riches and their spending in previous years, Guardiola only finds himself seventh on this list.

And when you think about it, it makes sense. City have spent money in the past and there are of course questions about how legitimate that money is, but crucially, they spend it well.

Erling Haaland cost them just £50million in 2022 and while they splashed in the summer after winning the treble, they barely spent a penny this summer. Ilkay Gundogan returned on a free transfer, while Savinho moved from City Football Group to City Football Group.

Very legal and above board.

6. Thomas Tuchel – €489.39million

International management may come as a shock to the system for Tuchel, who has spent close to £500million on 15 players across two clubs since the beginning of 2022-23.

He was able to sign a few players at Chelsea in the summer before being dismissed by the new owners and was in charge at Bayern when they brought Kane to the club for £100million, making up almost a fifth of the money spent by the German.

5. Jorge Jesus – €513.81million

A surprising entry at a glance, you won’t be surprised at all when you realise that the 70-year-old is in charge at Al-Hilal. That explains it.

He’s signed 26 players since the beginning of the 2022-23 season – which he actually spent at Fenerbahce before heading to Saudi Arabia.

Since heading to the Middle East, however, he’s overseen the signings of Neymar, Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Marcos Leonardo and more.

They’ve hardly cheaped out.

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4. Mikel Arteta – €530.4million

There’s no denying Arteta has transformed Arsenal, but it’s come at a significant cost.

Of the 14 players signed since 2022-23, notable buys include Declan Rice from West Ham for £100million, Kai Havertz from Chelsea for £65million and Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City for £45million – the latter of whom has since found himself falling out of favour.

To conclude, mixed fortunes and no Premier League title to show for it – yet.

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3. Luis Enrique – €530.92million

The Spaniard returned to club management in 2023 with one of the richest clubs in the world and the spending reflects that.

Enrique has bought 13 players to date at PSG and spent in excess of £500million. Randal Kolo Muani, Joao Neves and Bradley Barcola all cost a fair sum but are astute signings for the future.

However, the jury is still out on Ousmane Dembele and just a year on from signing Manuel Ugarte for £51million, they sold him for roughly the same amount.

2. Mauricio Pochettino – €543.6million

Much like Tuchel, Pochettino has proven to have expensive taste, but he’ll have to leave that behind while in charge of the USMNT where he cannot spend money.

Before taking on the international job, the Argentine oversaw several extremely pricey signings at Chelsea.

While £45million on Cole Palmer now looks like a bargain, the jury is still out on £105million Moises Caicedo. £58million Romeo Lavia has only just properly returned from injury and the same can be said of Christopher Nkunku.

1. Erik ten Hag – €660.08million

Oh, Erik. It started so well. But in two and a half seasons at Manchester United, he spent well in excess of £500million on 22 players and never really progressed the team properly beyond his first season.

The Dutchman insisted that the club purchased Antony in his first summer in charge which wound up costing them £80million.

Along with Antony came Casemiro at £70million and Lisandro Martinez at £56.7million. Martinez has largely been a success and Casemiro was important in 2022-23, but Antony has been a disaster.

The spending didn’t let up in the following summer, but despite that, United managed their worst Premier League finish ever.

An FA Cup final victory spared some blushes, but after spending even more money this summer, the Red Devils have only gone backwards and Ten Hag has inevitably lost his job.