Liverpool, Man Utd, Barcelona: The 20 clubs with the biggest net spend since Abramovich bought Chelsea

Roman Abramovich has announced his intention to sell Chelsea.

The Russian has been owner of the club since 2003. He revealed his intention to sell in a statement on Chelsea’s official website on Wednesday evening.

The statement read: “I hope that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person. It has been a privilege of a lifetime to be part of Chelsea FC and I am proud of all our joint achievements. Chelsea Football Club and its supporters will always be in my heart.”

Chelsea have spent a huge amount of players under Abramovich’s tenure. In fact, they have spent just over £2 billion on players in the past 19 years.

But how does their net spend compare to Europe’s biggest clubs since 2003?

Using Transfermarkt, we’ve named the 20 clubs in world football with the highest net spend since Abramovich took over Chelsea in the summer of 2003. Spoiler alert, Chelsea aren’t first…

20. Inter Milan | -£272.61m

19. Wolfsburg | -£284.91m

18. Newcastle | -£305.75m

17. Everton | -£319.64m

16. Zenit St Petersburg | -£320.66m

15. West Ham | -£321.81m

14. Napoli | -£334.04m

13. Aston Villa | -£404.51m

12. Tottenham Hotspur | -£436.30m

11. AC Milan | -£470.97m

10. Liverpool | -£527.23m

9. Bayern Munich | -£545.47m

8. Arsenal | -£567.02m

7. Juventus | -£598.77m

6. Real Madrid | -£649.35m

5. FC Barcelona | -£789.01m

4. Paris Saint-Germain | -£886.43m

3. Chelsea | -£947.09m

2. Manchester United | -£1.061bn

Chelsea have a net spend of nearly £1 billion since Abramovich arrived at the club.

However, while that’s a quite absurd amount of money, two European clubs have spent more.

Man City have a net spend of over £1.348bn since 2003, which is a staggering £400m more than Chelsea.

Manchester United