The 10 biggest spending football managers since Pep Guardiola joined Man City in 2016
These managers have spent a lot of money
Since joining Manchester City in 2016, Pep Guardiola has spent over £1billion on transfer fees, but where does he rank among the highest-spending managers during that time period?
Spending large sums of money is no guarantee of success, but it certainly helps. With the influx of cash sloshing around in the modern game, it’s become commonplace for clubs to spend extortionate amounts in each transfer window.
Using figures provided by Transfermarkt, we’ve gathered the 10 biggest spending managers from across Europe since Guardiola joined Man City in 2016.
10. Jose Mourinho
Estimated spend since 2016: £652.8m
Biggest signing: Paul Pogba (£89m)
The Special One is renowned for his blockbuster signings, particularly during his stints with Chelsea and Man Utd. Since 2016, he’s spent just over £650m which works out at around £81.6m per season.
In recent years, he’s had to work within his means as the 61-year-old wasn’t afforded vast sums of money with either Tottenham or Roma.
He still maintains a spot in the top 10 though, with a slightly higher spend since 2016 than the likes of Maurizio Sarri, Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta.
9. Ernesto Valverde
Estimated spend since 2016: £698.8m
Biggest signing: Ousmane Dembele (£115m)
Having signed the likes of Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann for over £100m, Valverde is the highest-spending Barcelona manager in the history of the club.
The vast majority of the £698.8m that Valverde has spent since 2016 came during his stint with Barcelona. Despite winning four trophies during his three-year stay at Camp Nou, none of his big signings really worked out.
These days he’s working at Athletic Bilbao and is no longer afforded such riches in the transfer window. He’s predominately signed free agents since arriving at Bilbao in 2022 and has done a solid job in that time.
8. Diego Simeone
Estimated spend since 2016: £727.1m
Biggest signing: Joao Felix (£109m)
Simeone is undoubtedly one of the best managers of the modern era, but he’s not always got things right in the transfer market.
The biggest black mark against Simeone’s name is probably the signing of Felix, who has struggled to live up to his £109m price tag since arriving in La Liga.
In fairness to Simeone, he has unearthed several gems during his spell with Atletico Madrid, despite some of his higher-profile signings not going to plan.
7. Unai Emery
Estimated spend since 2016: £729.3m
Biggest signing: Neymar (£190m)
Emery has made a name for himself as a managerial underdog in recent years, but the Spanish coach still ranks among the highest-spending managers of the modern era.
In fairness to Emery, around 26% of his total spend was on Neymar, a deal that was ultimately decided by the higher-ups at PSG.
His other notable signings since 2016 include the likes of Nicolas Pepe, Moussa Diaby and William Saliba, to name a few.
No doubt with Aston Villa preparing for a return to the Champions League for next season, Emery will be keen to splash some cash in the summer.
6. Antonio Conte
Estimated spend since 2016: £788.2m
Biggest signing: Romelu Lukaku (£63m)
The bulk of Conte’s expenditure since 2016 has come during his spells with Chelsea and Tottenham, but his biggest signing in that time was for Lukaku who he signed for Inter Milan.
Undoubtedly, the best signing that Conte has ever made in his career has been for N’Golo Kante, who he signed for just £30m back in the summer of 2016.
The 54-year-old has been out of work since leaving Tottenham last year, but we’re sure it won’t be long until he’s back in the managerial dugout somewhere.
5. Jurgen Klopp
Estimated spend since 2016: £799.9m
Biggest signing: Darwin Nunez (£72.8m)
It’s going to be strange not seeing Klopp in the Liverpool dugout next season. There’s no denying what a great job he’s done during his nine-year stay in the Premier League.
Since 2016, the German boss has spent just shy of £800m in the transfer market, with his biggest deals being for Nunez, Virgil van Dijk, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alisson Becker.
One of the attributes that makes Klopp great is his ability to improve players, regardless of how much they have cost. Andy Robertson is a prime example of a player that Klopp signed for next to nothing and transformed into a world class full-back.
Liverpool sure will miss him next season, but the 56-year-old has left behind a very competitive squad.
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4. Mauricio Pochettino
Estimated spend since 2016: £820.6m
Biggest signing: Moises Caicedo (£100m)
After spending years of working within his means at Tottenham, Pochettino has been given the chance to splash the cash over the last few years with PSG and Chelsea.
Of the 10 most expensive players that Pochettino has ever signed, only two of them were from his time at Spurs – Tanguy Ndombele and Davinson Sanchez.
Following a big spending spree in the summer that saw Chelsea spend around £400m, Pochettino leapfrogged several other managers in this list.
3. Massimiliano Allegri
Estimated spend since 2016: £821.2m
Biggest signing: Cristiano Ronaldo (£100m)
Having recently been sacked by Juventus, it will be interesting to see where Allegri lands next. The Italian coach has spent his fair share of money during his two stints with Juventus.
His biggest signing was Ronaldo, but his other notable deals were for the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Dusan Vlahovic, Federico Chiesa and Paulo Dybala.
2. Thomas Tuchel
Estimated spend since 2016: £1.01bn
Biggest signing: Kylian Mbappe (£154m)
Having managed the likes of Bayern Munich, Chelsea and PSG in recent years, it’s no surprise to see Tuchel near the top of this list.
Mbappe remains the biggest signing of Tuchel’s career to date and it will take a mammoth transfer to overtake that deal which cost around £154m.
Other big signings from Tuchel’s career involve the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Harry Kane, Wesley Fofana and Raheem Sterling.
1. Pep Guardiola
Estimated spend since 2016: £1.29bn
Biggest signing: Jack Grealish (£100m)
Who else? Since the 53-year-old joined Man City back in 2016, no other manager has spent more money than him. In total, he’s spent £1.29bn which works out at around £161m per season.
There can be little doubt that Guardiola ranks among the best managers of all time, but the financial power of Man City has certainly aided his genius over the years.
Having now won four consecutive Premier League titles, Guardiola has won every trophy on offer with Man City and he’s broke several records along the way.
With his current contract set to expire at the end of next season, it remains to be seen where his long-term future lies.
“Last year, after Istanbul, I said ‘it’s over, there’s nothing left’,” Guardiola told reporters after winning his latest title.
“But I have a contract and I start to think ‘no-one has done four in a row, why don’t we try?’. And now I feel it’s done, so what next?
“Now I don’t know what exactly the motivation is because it’s difficult to find it when everything is done.”
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