On July 1, Spanish football club Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (Real Madrid) signed soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé, making him one of the highest-paid athletes in the world with a new annual salary of $16.2 million and a $160 million bonus.
Mbappé’s expensive transfer from Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (Paris Saint-Germain F.C.) to Real Madrid has brought even more attention to valuable players who sign on to top-tier clubs. Previously, Real Madrid — which is a part of the top division of Spanish soccer, La Liga — paid many other expensive football superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Jude Bellingham with high salaries.
With $895 million in earnings during the 2022-23 fiscal year, Real Madrid has the financial resources to cover almost any transfer fee. Their reputation as one of the world’s top soccer clubs entices many players to sign with them.
Conversely, Sevilla Fútbol Club (Sevilla F.C.), a mid-tier La Liga team in terms of earnings, earned $276 million in the same period.
For some clubs, higher earnings can translate to better league standings. Currently, Real Madrid sits in second place in La Liga — behind the similarly well-resourced Fútbol Club Barcelona (Barcelona F.C.) — while Sevilla F.C. is in the bottom half of their league.
The correlation between wealth and a club’s performance is not a new concept. Countless other football clubs have used their abundance of financial resources to buy expensive players in the past, giving those clubs a leg up within their league.
For example, Manchester City Football Club (Manchester City F.C.) won the latest Premier League title after spending about $265 million on transfer fees.
However, Manchester City F.C. is currently under investigation for spending more money than is allowed under the Premier League’s rules. A hearing on the charges is expected to last two months. “[It is] the sports trial of the century,” wrote an article on Goal.com, an international sports news website.
Manchester City F.C.’s controversy suggests that other wealthy clubs may also be dodging financial policies, further widening the spending gap between clubs in the Premier League. This gap has widened exponentially in recent years, with the difference in value between the highest and lowest-income clubs increasing by $340 million since 2015.
Although more wealth can contribute to a club’s improved performance, wealthy clubs may still underperform. “Even though Manchester United [has] a lot of money and they have brought in many expensive players, they still haven’t been able to produce good results,” Max Cavelie ’28 said.
Additionally, despite Chelsea Football Club (Chelsea) being the third highest Premier League club in player spending according to Transfermarkt, they were crushed under the weight of poor management and planning. “[Chelsea was facing criticism for] stockpiling players, not having a plan and too easily discarding academy talent,” Nizaar Kinsella wrote in a BBC article. “Chelsea have announced losses of £90 [million] and £121 [million] in the two sets of accounts released … and did not qualify for the Champions League.”
Successful clubs worldwide have become more rigorous in both their selection process and the development of players. “Clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City have spent a lot of money, but they’ve also done a really good job in terms of developing players,” Chris Flanagan, the Urban boys varsity soccer coach said.
With the wealthy clubs becoming wealthier and the bottom clubs struggling to keep up, many fans have become distraught. “I’m a little disappointed to see [Racing Club de Lens] standing in Ligue 1,” Jack Kotas ’26 said. “It’s hard for them to compete in the league with their lower budget.”