After the splurge come the sales for Chelsea – not that they have stopped spending. But their no.1 spot in this list is under threat from RB Leipzig.
Here are the 10 clubs who have banked the most money from sales this summer. For consistency, for the most part, we’ve used fees and figures from transfermarkt…
1) Chelsea – £134.4m (€156.60m)
Biggest sale: Kai Havertz (to Arsenal, £60.1m)
Chelsea have shown no reluctance to sell to rivals, with Mateo Kovacic following Havertz through the door on his way to Manchester City, while the sale of Mason Mount to Manchester United is imminent. The Saudi trolley dash came at a hugely convenient time for the Blues, who pulled in a combined £35.6m for Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly.
2) RB Leipzig – £114.6m (€133.50m)
Biggest sale: Dominik Szoboszlai (to Liverpool, £60.1m)
Leipzig will hit the £200m mark in sales if, as expected, Josko Gvardiol ends up in ‘Pep Guardiola’s strong hands’. Chelsea new boy Christopher Nkunku and Genoa-bound goalkeeper Josep Martínez departed before Szoboszlai left for Liverpool.
3) Borussia Dortmund – £93m (€108.35m)
Biggest sale: Jude Bellingham (to Real Madrid, £88.5m)
Bellingham represents all but some loose change of Dortmund’s income so far, with the £4.3m sale of Germany Under-21 winger Ansgar Knauff to Eintracht Frankfurt and a few euros for loaning Tom Rothe to Holstein Kiel making up the rest.
4) Sassuolo – £72.5m (€84.42m)
Biggest sale: Manuel Locatelli (to Juventus, £17.2m)
Sassuolo are only now banking the Locatelli money with the midfielder having been on loan at Juventus for the last two years. Last season’s 13th-placed finishers in Serie A have also made good money by selling Giacomo Raspadori and Hamed Traorè to Napoli and Bournemouth respectively.
5) Wolves – £54.7m (€63.70m)
Biggest sale: Ruben Neves (to Al-Hilal, £47.3m)
The Neves deal made us sad. Other than that, Wolves have made a few quid by selling Conor Coady to Leicester, but they are so far resisting attempts by Napoli to take Max Kilman.
6) AC Milan – £52m (€60.5m)
Biggest sale: Sandro Tonali (to Newcastle, £52m)
There is some dispute over what Newcastle will pay for Tonali – we’re going with £52million potentially rising to £60m – but, whatever the offer, it was too good for Milan and the midfielder to turn down, even if reports suggest he would rather have stayed at the San Siro.
It’s been a great ride. All the best, Sandro
È stato un bellissimo viaggio insieme. La tua famiglia rossonera ti augura il meglio! pic.twitter.com/CiTW93gBsp
— AC Milan (@acmilan) July 3, 2023
7) Villarreal – £45.5m (€53m)
Biggest sale: Nicolas Jackson (to Chelsea, £31.8m)
Striker Jackson could be followed to the Premier League by Villa-bound Pau Torres, who could help swell Villarreal’s coffers by a further £33m.
8) RB Salzburg – £45.1m (€52.5m)
Biggest sale: Benjamin Sesko (to RB Leipzig, £20.6m)
Salzburg took another £17.1m off their big brother in Leipzig for Nicolas Seiwald, who became the 20th player to move between the two clubs.
9) Hellas Verona – £40.5m (€47.16m)
Biggest sale: Ivan Ilic (to Torino, £13m)
Torino took Ilic on a try-before-you-buy loan deal in January, with four other players joining Serie A rivals.
10) Leicester – £39.77m (€46.3m)
Biggest sale: James Maddison (to Tottenham, £39.77m)
Maddison accounts for all of Leicester’s income so far this summer, with six other stars leaving the King Power as free agents.
Read next: The 20 biggest transfers in the world in the 2023 summer transfer window