This feels like a pretty good metric for assessing how well Premier League clubs are being run, with value added calculated by subtracting how much money was spent on the squad from the current market value.
Transfer market acumen is obviously key, as is the ability of the manager to develop players, and the quality of the academy. Manchester United and Chelsea are two of three clubs with what we guess is technically a ‘value subtracted’ score.
1) Brentford
Purchase value: €216.95m
Market value: €419.73m
Difference: €202.78m
Value added: 48.3%
It feels as though Thomas Frank will forever be the bridesmaid when it comes to big jobs, in large part perhaps because Brentford are now seen as part of the Premier League furniture. But only Fulham and Ipswich have spent less building their squads and while the recruitment team clearly deserve huge credit for signing players with room to improve, it takes a very good coach to ensure that improvement takes place and Frank has had far more hits than misses.
2) Brighton
Purchase value: €315.12m
Market value: €586.1m
Difference: €270.98m
Value added: 46.2%
A lean season in 2023/2024, Europa League dalliance aside, which has cost them in the value-added Real Quiz. Losing to Brentford will hurt but we fully expect Simon Adingra, Julio Enciso or one of their other young upstarts to draw Big Boy attentions before long to see market values skyrocket again.
3) Crystal Palace
Purchase value: €243.09m
Market value: €420.5m
Difference: €177.42m
Value added: 42.2%
Would have been even higher had Bayern Munich not just pilfered Michael Olise – whom Palace signed for €9.3m before selling him for €53m, just shy of €55m market value. Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton are further excellent examples of getting far more bang for your buck when targeting Championship players.
4) Fulham
Purchase value: €159.37m
Market value: €256.3m
Difference: €96.93m
Value added: 37.8%
Alex Iwobi is the most highly valued member of the squad at €25m, along with Antonee Robinson, and the former Everton winger is the only player in the top five whose value has decreased (from €28m), with Robinson, Andreas Pereira, Issa Dior and Rodrigo Muniz all rising significantly.
5) Arsenal
Purchase value: €726.2m
Market value: €1.15bn
Difference: €422.8m
Value added: 36.8%
Only Fabio Vieira (-€3m), Jurrien Timber (-€4m), Kieran Tierney (-€13m), Jorginho (-€23m) and Thomas Partey (-€32m) have gone down in value since their debuts for Arsenal, and four of those five are down to age, injury or both. Mikel Arteta and Edu have done excellent work in tandem.
6) Liverpool
Purchase value: €657.55m
Market value: €949.3m
Difference: €291.75m
Value added: 30.7%
Pure profit pays and all of Liverpool’s academy graduates together are worth over €200m.
7) Everton
Purchase value: €232.27m
Market value: €311.8m
Difference: €79.53m
Value added: 25.5%
Surprisingly good given we all take it as read that Everton are an horrendously run football club. Jarrad Branthwaite (€42m) is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here and he’s not going anywhere.
8) Manchester City
Purchase value: €1.08bn
Market value: €1.43bn
Difference: €351.5m
Value added: 24.5%
Buying Erling Haaland for €60m was cheating and he and Phil Foden together have added €270m in value.
9) Aston Villa
Purchase value: €516.99m
Market value: €655.2m
Difference: €138.21
Value added: 21.1%
They’ve now got 12 players in the squad valued at €25m+ and only two of them are over the age of 28.
10) Bournemouth
Purchase value: €325.51m
Market value: €373.1m
Difference: €47.59m
Value added: 12.8%
In the middle ground as you might expect but it feels like there’s real potential for Bournemouth to climb this list over the next year or so, with talented footballers including Ilya Zabarnyi (€32m), Milos Kerkez (€20m), Dango Outtara (€20m) and Alex Scott (€20m) – all 22 or younger – playing under a talented coach.
11) Tottenham
Purchase value: €716.8m
Market value: €807.8m
Difference: €90.9m
Value added: 11.3%
The departure of pure profit judas Harry Kane hasn’t helped them but they spent that money really rather well, with Guglielmo Vicario and Micky van de Ven already worth twice what Spurs paid for them and James Maddison also a clear transfer market win.
12) Wolves
Purchase value: €376.7m
Market value: €419.6m
Difference: €42.9m
Value added: 10.2%
The possible departure of Pedro Neto to Tottenham would put Wolves on the brink of the value added relegation zone.
13) Ipswich
Purchase value: €82.6m
Market value: €90.55m
Difference: €7.95m
Value added: 8.8%
Only new signing Jacob Greaves (€15m) is valued at above €10m and five of the top seven have all joined this summer.
14) Nottingham Forest
Purchase value: €330m
Market value: €359.2m
Difference: €29.2m
Value added: 8.1%
Their big win of the transfer madness over the last couple of years has been Murillo, who joined for €12m – €8m over his market value at the time – and is now worth €35m.
15) Newcastle
Purchase value: €628.5m
Market value: €656.65m
Difference: €28.15m
Value added: 4.3%
Slightly surprising to see them so low, but in truth it’s because despite some decent work in the transfer window, they’ve generally paid what players have been worth or even more on occasion, Bruno Guimaraes aside.
16) West Ham
Purchase value: €450.66m
Market value: €454.5m
Difference: €3.84m
Value added: 0.8%
Really suffering from having a an old squad here, with market value dipping as players move into their twilight years.
17) Southampton
Purchase value: €234.2m
Market value: €222.8m
Difference: -€11.4m
Value added: -5.1%
Spent over €150m in their last season in the Premier League and they’re still paying for it despite their immediate return.
18) Manchester United
Purchase value: €952.12m
Market value: €818.15m
Difference: -€133.97m
Value added: -16.4%
Finding buyers for any or all of Casemiro, Harry Maguire and Antony would work wonders in getting them into the black, while they’re also taking significant hits on Jadon Sancho and Mason Mount as things stand.
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19) Chelsea
Purchase value: €1.36bn
Market value: €1.09bn
Difference: -€268.45m
Value added: -24.6%
Cole Palmer (€80m), Conor Gallagher (€50m) and Levi Colwill (€50m) are all big plus points but the two British transfer record signings are really screwing them, with both currently worth roughly €50m less than Chelsea paid for them.
20) Leicester City
Purchase value: €259.09m
Market value: €191.2m
Difference: -€67.89m
Value added: -35.5%
Almost impressive to have that much loss without a player valued at over €20m. This could be a very difficult season for Leicester.