June 15 – Premier League clubs are expected to break the £1 billion spend mark on transfers this summer, but is this money well spent? New research suggests that last summer the savviest clubs were Middlesbrough and Stoke City, while the most profligate were Leicester City, and Manchester United and City on a cost-per-minute-played basis.
MyVoucherCodes.co.uk has analysed the 50 biggest transfers in the Premier League last summer looking at which players provided the best and worst value for money when taking into account both transfer fee and salary. Overall Premier League clubs spent £957,400,000 on the 50 biggest transfers. Remarkably those players were only on the pitch 52% of the time (19 games and 66 minutes).
At £672,941 per goal for each of his 17 strikes Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the second best deal done for a striker. Despite this Manchester United were the third worst buyer of players in the 2016 summer transfer window, only beaten by Manchester City and Leicester City.
Despite spending Leicester spending £60 million on Slimani, Musa and Mendy, they were unable to get on to the pitch, costing a staggering £29,969.66 per minute between them.
Looking at individual players, Ibrahimovic was beaten for value by Swansea’s Llorente whose 15 goals cost just £593,333 each. But Swansea weren’t always so smart in the transfer market, Baston’s solitary Premier League goal cost the club £17,840,000.
John Stones was the worst value for money defender in the Premier League – Manchester City paid £292,777.80 per tackle, interception and clearance. This is £130,000 more per tackle, interception and clearance than any other defender in the league. In contrast Liverpool’s Matip was the best value for money defender with each tackle, interception and clearance costing the club only £21,050.60 each.
Tottenham were caught for a thumping £36,334.08 per minute for Janssen, Sissoko and N’Koudou. And at £17,080,000 per goal, assist and big chance created by Sissoko, Spurs fans moaning was perhaps justified.
Compare this to the £366,000 per goal, assist and big chance created by Matt Phillips for West Brom. He was the top value midfielder. Southampton and England’s Nathan Redmond was second with 7 goals, 1 assist and 6 big chances costing £915,714.30. Nacer Chadli was third at £991,250 per goal, assist and big chance created, while Joe Allen and the often maligned but much travelled Andros Townsend rounded off the top 5.
50 BIGGEST TRANSFERS:
- £957,400,000 spent on transfers (£344,900,000 midfield; £253,300,000 attackers; £182,800,000 strikers;£176,400,000 defence)
- Average transfer fee was £19,148,000
- On average, new signings were only on the pitch for 1776 minutes – 52% of available time
BEST COST PER MINUTE:
- Middlesbrough – £5,070.22
- Stoke City – £5,313.35
- West Brom – £5,336.10
- Burnley – £5,581.57
- Sunderland – £6,098.63
WORST COST PER MINUTE:
- Leicester City – £29,969.66
- Manchester City – £26,816.64
- Manchester United – £21,904.48
- Arsenal – £19,772.38
- Watford – £17,864.08
TOP 5 STRIKERS: COST PER GOAL
- Llorente – £593,333
- Ibrahimovic – £672,941
- Benteke – £2,216,000
- Ayew – £4,110,000
- Slimani – £4,880,000
WORST STRIKERS: COST PER GOAL
- Perez – £20,640,000
- Baston – £17,840,000
- Janssen – £10,310,000
TOP 5 DEFENDERS: COST PER (TACKLE + INTERCEPTION + CLEARANCE)
- Matip – £21,052.60
- Williams – £40,050.40
- Dijilobodji – £40,746.90
- Tomkins – £114,100.70
- David Luiz – £138,512.60
WORST DEFENDERS: COST PER (TACKLE + INTERCEPTION+ CLEARANCE)
- Stones – £292,777.80
- Mustafi – £161,959.20
- Bailly – £138,861.80
BEST MIDFIELDER/ATTACKER: COST PER (GOAL + ASSIST + BIG CHANCE CREATED)
- Phillips – £366,000
- Redmond – £915,714.30
- Chadli – £991,250
- Allen – £1,040,000
- Townsend – £1,057,333.30
WORST MIDFIELDER/ATTACKER: COST PER (GOAL + ASSIST + BIG CHANCE CREATED)
- Sissoko – £17,080,000
Source: MyVoucherCodes.co.uk
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734961487labto1734961487ofdlr1734961487owedi1734961487sni@n1734961487osloh1734961487cin.l1734961487uap1734961487