FC Barcelona have another UEFA Champions League campaign ahead of them as they look to get rid of their past ghosts and regain their former glory in the premier European competition.
The Catalans have been underperforming in the Champions League for the past few seasons. In the last two editions of the tournament, they have been unable to go past the group stage, as they were relegated to the Europa League on both these occasions.
Lowest spenders in the Champions League
However, this time around, Barcelona are one of the strongest teams in the tournament. As already reported here, the current squad has eight players who have already won the tournament in their careers, including Ilkay Gundogan, who won the trophy only last season as Manchester City’s captain.
What’s even more brilliant about this squad, as SPORT has noted, is that it has been assembled with a minimum of expenditure by the Catalan club. Barcelona are the lowest-ranked team in the tournament by virtue of their spending in the past summer transfer window, as they spent only €3.4 million for Oriol Romeu’s transfer.
Vitor Roque has not yet joined the club, so the expenses of his signing would not count towards this expenditure. Other than him, Barcelona got both Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo without any loan fee, while Inigo Martinez and Ilkay Gundogan were also signed as free agents.
Comparison with other clubs
The difference that Barcelona has in their spending over the summer with other teams is outrageous. PSG top this ranking, as they spent €349.5 million. Manchester City are second placed with a spending of €241.1 million, followed by other Premier League sides, Arsenal and Manchester United, with spending of €234.9 and 206.7 million, respectively.
Real Madrid is the Spanish team with the top spending in the summer, as they spent €129.5 million, a large sum of which went as the fee for Jude Bellingham. Even teams like Copenhague and Young Boys spent more than Barcelona in the summer window.
