10 Biggest Spenders in Europe This Summer Transfer Window

The transfer window provided a hugely entertaining backdrop to the start of the 2013-14 season, with deadline day no less full of occasion and excitement as teams scrambled to finalise their squad lists.

Some of the biggest teams around the continent have been extremely accommodating to shelling out extraordinarily high fees for good—and great—players this year, meaning more than 10 clubs from Europe's top five leagues have paid a total greater than £50 million in transfer fees this summer.

Here we look at the top 10 spenders from the top five leagues, by total spending regardless of net spending. This is to see what use teams have made of their money, not to determine how they came by their summer war chest.

Fees taken from transfermarkt.co.uk for consistency.

10. Bayern Munich, £55 Million

Germany's finest, Bayern Munich, were the best team in Europe last season. They won the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the UEFA Champions League.

So naturally, they brought in the best coach in world football and spent more than £50 million to strengthen their squad, primarily spending on Mario Gotze from rivals Borussia Dortmund, but also bringing in Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona.

Pep Guardiola's job will be to repeat the success the club attained last year, and they have certainly added more than enough quality over the last few months to claim the best squad in the league once more. Good enough to conquer Europe again?

Nine months' time will tell.

9. AS Roma, £58 Million

Over in Italy, AS Roma have been busy improving their squad for a renewed challenge in Serie A following a relatively disappointing season last year.

The capital club have spent £58 million in total to bring in a number of quality senior players, with Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman the most expensive addition. Strootman brings experience, leadership and no shortage of quality to the centre of the park, but Roma have made several other intelligent additions too.

Adem Ljajic and Mehdi Benatia bring great talent at either end of the pitch, and the fans will hope that signings of this ilk will be enough to improve significantly on last term's sixth-place finish.

8. Barcelona, £62 Million

Barcelona have only made one addition to their senior squad with the capture of Neymar for slightly over £50 million, but they have paid out more than £60 million in total as a result of having to shell out more than £11 million for their own striker Bojan Krkic.

Bojan was with AS Roma for two years—the second of which was actually spent at AC Milan—but under the terms of the initial agreement, the Spanish side had to fork out to bring back the one-time wonderkid if Roma decided they didn't want to keep him for a longer period.

It's turned out to be a costly deal for the Catalan side, but they will hope the addition of Neymar is enough to propel them to another La Liga title.

7. Chelsea, £69 Million

Chelsea brought back Jose Mourinho as manager this summer and have improved his squad to the tune of nearly £70 million—exclusively on attacking players.

Andre Schurrle was the big signing at just under £20 million for most of the summer, but the capture of Willian for a whopping £33 million from under the noses of Spurs and Liverpool ends up accounting for almost half of the Stamford Bridge club's total outlay.

Can Mourinho mould his bloated, attacking midfield-heavy squad into one that can challenge for the Premier League title once more? It seems likely that he would be the one manager who can, but he'll face severe competition this year.

6. Napoli, £75 Million

Napoli finished second in Serie A last season but lost their primary weapon in Edinson Cavani. It was a blow to the Italian club, but one which has allowed new boss Rafa Benitez to splash out considerably in rebuilding the side.

Dries Mertens, Raul Albiol and Jose Maria Callejon all came in for significant sums, but striker Gonzalo Higuain was the biggest signing at more than £32 million.

If the Argentine scores the goals to lead Napoli back to the Champions League places this year, it will all have been worth it, but an almost complete restructuring of the playing staff means there is a lot of expectation on the club to do well this time around.

5. Paris Saint-Germain, £98 Million

And so to the top five—and a huge jump from the previous cluster of teams to those fighting it out at the very top end of the spending scale.

Paris Saint-Germain spent just shy of £100 million on just three players, with striker Edinson Cavani making up the bulk of that at a whopping £57 million.

Young defenders Marquinhos and Lucas Digne cost more than £40 million between them for PSG to land—despite them having played a total of just 75 top-flight league matches in Europe between them.

The massive outlay will be expected to be enough to retain their Ligue 1 crown in the face of new opposition, as well as pushing them further toward a European challenge too.

4. Manchester City, £102 Million

Manchester City have, for several seasons, been amongst the biggest spenders in the Premier League, but they were pipped to that particular title this time around, placing fourth in Europe overall.

They crashed through the £100 million barrier by way of five signings, with Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho being the priciest at £35 million.

Former Sevilla teammates Alvaro Negredo and Jesus Navas have already shown their importance to the side with point-winning performances, while Stevan Jovetic awaits his chance to play a significant role. Martin Demichelis, a late signing off Atletico Madrid, will provide depth in defence.

New manager Manuel Pellegrini will be expected to take his new charges and go one better than Roberto Mancini managed last year when the league was won by rivals Manchester United.

3. Tottenham Hotspur, £107 Million

Tottenham Hotspur have had a huge turnover this summer in terms of their first-team squad but, despite comfortably surpassing the £100 million mark, have actually barely spent anything at all.

Eight senior departures have been offset by seven signings, with an eclectic mix of attackers expected to really push Andre Villas-Boas' men toward the top four this season. They will have a huge task on their hands to manage that given the competition, but the likes of Roberto Soldado at £26 million and Erik Lamela at £27 million (both club records when they signed) will give them a big opportunity to do so.

Of course, the world-record sale of Gareth Bale gave them the funds to do such business—but has it also robbed them of their most potent weapon?

2. Real Madrid, £144 Million

Real Madrid have—once more—broken the world record for a transfer fee, following the capture of Gareth Bale from Spurs.

His £85 million deal makes up the vast expenditure from last season's La Liga runners-up, but they also splashed out huge fees on Spanish duo Asier Illarramendi and Isco, both of whom will have big expectations on their shoulders to wrest back the league title from Barcelona this season.

Casemiro and Dani Carvajal were lower outlays, and Carlo Ancelotti will be hopeful that he now has a balanced squad with enough depth to challenge on all three fronts. And, let's be honest, if he hasn't, then question marks will be raised over one man above all others.

1. AS Monaco, £146 Million

The biggest spenders in Europe this summer are in fact a newly promoted side.

Ligue 1's early pace-setters have spent close to £150 million in preparation for their first season back in the top flight, as they look to both challenge domestically and fight for European competitions next season.

Radamel Falcao joined for a massive £53 million from Atletico Madrid, but a double swoop on Porto for James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho saw more than £60 million head the way of the Portuguese side. Geoffrey Kondogbia and Jeremy Toulalan were also acquired from La Liga as Monaco seek to spend their way to the top of French football.

Monaco weren't even preparing for top-flight football at this time last year, but their plans to take on the best are well on track after a summer of enormous spending; now they have to justify it by claiming success in Ligue 1 at the first attempt.

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