Juventus are the sole Italian representative in the top 10 most expensively assembled teams in 2024-25, according to the CIES Football Observatory.

The Bianconeri current squad costs €626 million, a whopping €250m more than Napoli and almost twice as much as Inter Milan, but than half of Chelsea, who topped the list with a total value of €1.26bn (including add-ons).

Juventus dominated the transfer window in Italy this summer, spending north of €160m on a raft of new signings including Douglas Luiz, Khephren Thuram, Teun Koopmeiners, Nico Gonzalez, Pierre Kalulu, Juan Cabal, Michele Di Gregorio and Francisco Conceicao

CIES released the figures in their weekly report, which assessed the 100 teams in the world having committed the most money in transfer fees to recruit their current squad members. In total, 19 countries feature in the list, with 14 Serie A sides and one from Serie B among them.

Impressively, incumbent UEFA Europa League champion Atalanta are ranked 37th, having spent €258 million to assemble their current squad, averaging €11.2m per player. Serie A winners Inter rank 24th while top-flight newcomers Parma are 72nd.

1. Juventus €626m (10th-ranked overall)
2. Napoli €394m (21st)
3. Milan €375m (22th)
4. Inter €329m (24th)
5. Roma €261m (36th)
6. Atalanta €258m (37th)
7. Fiorentina €196m (45th)
8. Bologna €171m (51st)
9. Lazio €161m (55th)
10. Torino €132m (61st)
11. Parma €108m (72nd)
12. Sassuolo €104m (75th)
13. Monza €92m (78th)
14. Genoa €87m (82nd)
15. Udinese €71m (94th)

Juventus is up from 13th place last year, when the squad cost a total of €473 million. Cagliari, Como 1907, Hellas Verona, Venezia, Empoli and Lecce are the six Serie A clubs that don’t feature on the list, with Sassuolo being the only Serie B side represented in the top 100.

The Premier League dominates, as expected

Chelsea may only be competing in the UEFA Conference League this season, but coach Enzo Maresca has €1.26bn worth of footballers at his disposal. Manchester United and Manchester City complete the triumvirate of English clubs at the top of the CIES list, their squad costing €1.04bn and €1.02bn respectively.

UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid sit in 8th position despite the arrival of Kylian Mbappé, who arrived for free from PSG (6th).

Further amplifying Xabi Alonso’s heroics, Bundesliga winner Bayer Leverkusen occupies 34th position – three places above fellow Europa League finalist Atalanta – with German heavyweight Bayern Munich taking 11th. Saudi side Al-Hilal (13th), meanwhile, invested €24m more than Barcelona.

Through years of excessive and irresponsible spending, Chelsea have set a world record despite their failure to finish in the top four of the Premier League over the past two campaigns.

Here is the top 20, according to CIES.

1. Chelsea €1.26bn
2. Manchester United €1.04bn
3. Manchester City €1.02bn
4. Arsenal €798m
5. Tottenham €787m
6. PSG €772m
7. Liverpool €735m
8. Real Madrid €720m
9. Newcastle €683m
10. Juventus €626m
11. Bayern Munich €588m
12. Atletico Madrid €496m
13. Al-Hilal €485m
14. Aston Villa €475m
15. Barcelona €461m
16. Brighton €433m
17. Wolverhampton €426m
18. West Ham €414m
19. RB Leipzig €410m
20. Nottingham Forest €398m