Every football season, clubs around the world spend hundreds of millions in the transfer market, aiming to build the best possible squads to compete at the highest levels and secure more trophies. But which managers have overseen the most spending in football history?
In the modern football structure, managers are not solely responsible for a club’s revenues and expenditures, but they are often direct beneficiaries of the investments made during transfer windows.
According to the German website Transfermarkt, Spanish manager Pep Guardiola tops the list of managers associated with the highest transfer spending. Across his coaching career at Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City, the clubs he managed spent a staggering €2.45 billion on new players. That heavy investment resulted in 39 titles, proving that much of the spending paid off. Guardiola’s most expensive signing remains Jack Grealish, who joined Manchester City from Aston Villa in 2021 for €117.5 million, a club record.
In second place is José Mourinho, whose teams — including Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester United, and others — spent a combined €1.96 billion under his leadership. His biggest signing was Paul Pogba, brought to Manchester United from Juventus in 2016 for €105 million to please the “Special One.” Despite this, Mourinho ranks third in terms of trophies won, with 26 titles.
Veteran Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti is third in spending, with the clubs he managed — such as Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, PSG, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid — spending €1.79 billion under his tenure. However, Ancelotti is second on the list when it comes to silverware, having secured 31 trophies, including four UEFA Champions League titles.
Diego Simeone, the long-time Atlético Madrid boss, ranks fourth, with €1.52 billion spent since beginning his managerial career in 2006. Most of his 10 titles came during his ongoing tenure with Atlético, which began in 2011.
Other big-name managers on the list include Massimiliano Allegri, Antonio Conte, Manuel Pellegrini, Unai Emery, and Thomas Tuchel. Rounding out the top ten is Jürgen Klopp, whose clubs have spent a total of €1.15 billion during his coaching spells with Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool.
Interestingly, three managers on the list have coached Paris Saint-Germain (Ancelotti, Emery, Tuchel), and three others have managed Real Madrid (Ancelotti, Mourinho, Pellegrini). Both Guardiola and Pellegrini were part of Manchester City’s high-spending era, while Tuchel and Klopp both led Liverpool in recent years.
These overlaps highlight how the financial strength of Europe’s elite clubs — PSG, Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Liverpool — has played a pivotal role in enabling their managers to make high-profile signings without major restrictions.
However, it also illustrates a unique pressure placed on managers: to adapt to club policies, integrate marquee signings — sometimes without their direct approval — and still deliver consistent results and silverware. The ability to balance spending with performance remains a defining trait of the game’s top managers.
