A live graphic detailing Europe’s biggest-spending clubs has mesmerised football supporters everywhere after it took over the internet this weekend.
Produced by FDOR, the animation begins in 1991 and tracks which 10 sides have spent the most on transfer fees (measured in euros) as it progress through time.
Barcelona head up the list at the start, but the appearance of five Serie A teams in the initial ranking evidences the strength of the Italian league in the early 1990s.
Milan, Inter, Juventus and Lazio are all in the top five at the midway point of the decade, with Jack Walker’s Blackburn gradually closing the gap on Manchester United, England’s highest-placed representative.
Can't Stop. Watching.pic.twitter.com/8r5mgEsoAw— FourFourTwo ⚽️ (@FourFourTwo) March 16, 2019
Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid each enjoy a spell in first place before 1997, when Inter – fuelled by the big-money acquisitions of Ronaldo and Alvaro Recoba – take over at the top, a position they don’t relinquish until being overtaken by Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea in 2004/05.
The fast-growing Premier League begins to make itself felt during this period, with Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham also in the top 10 midway through the 2000s.
In 2007/08 Chelsea are replaced at the summit by Real Madrid, who are eventually nudged off top spot by Manchester City nine years later. The graphic ends with Chelsea and Manchester United trailing first-placed City, showcasing the financial muscle of Premier League clubs in 2019.
Other notable appearances include Leeds in the early 2000s – a spending splurge which resulted in financial calamity at Elland Road – and Newcastle as Europe’s sixth-highest spenders in 1998. Quick, someone show Mike Ashley.
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