10 Premier League Clubs With The Most Debt In 2023

“Over the two seasons affected, the overall income loss to the club will be around 30 million euros,”

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said in an official statement. Although 30 million pounds looks bad to a mid-table club looking to elevate its stature in England, some smart deals in the transfer market will help the Eagles get out of its financial pickle.

Palace’s 98 million pound IOU may be a little harder to handle, but smooth moves should lessen its financial load.

Sun journalist Tom Barclay reported long-time Crystal Palace attacker Christian Benteke could leave Selhurst Park, freeing Palace of Benteke’s hefty 120,000-pound wage.

Replaced by radiant strikers Odsonne Edouard and Luka Milivojevic, Benteke nearly moved to Burnley in the summer but rejected a move to the Clarets at the last minute.

If Palace wants to sign players like Lens midfielder Cheick Doucoure, who L’Equipe linked with a Crystal Palace transfer, it starts with unloading players like Benteke and Chiekhou Kouyate, who attracted the interest of Turkish champs Trabzonspor.

9. West Ham

Unlike Crystal Palace, West Ham’s debt has quick fixes, most coming in the form of selling the London club’s prized youngsters.

Players like Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen are gaining the attention of England’s Big Six, and a transfer would bring a lot of income into the pockets of the West Ham board.

The only problem? Results in the Premier League would take a hit, and the transfers would be very unpopular, inside and outside of the board.

So West Ham’s 127 million euro debt will need to be alleviated elsewhere.

As Ismaila Sarr and Oleksandr Zinchenko seem headed for a West Ham arrival, outgoings will be made. It is inevitable a big club will swoop in to poach West Ham’s talent, and the imminent signing of Nayef Aguerd shows it.

Time will tell whether West Ham can bounce back from a deep low in the coronavirus period with some sales.

8. Arsenal

Holding 232 million euros in debt, their staggering amount of IOUs hints at a need to sell some of the squad’s brightest players.

Ainsley-Maitland Niles is one of the latest players linked with an exit away from Arsenal, with newly-promoted Nottingham Forest, reported to be interested in the out-of-favor winger.

The Roma loanee made only 23 appearances and assisted just once in a fruitless campaign with I Giallorossi. Although Bukayo Saka probably will not leave the Emirates any time soon, many top clubs are sniffing around the explosive winger.

Longtime Gunners goalkeeper Bernd Leno could join him out the Arsenal exit, as media insiders linked him and Portuguese club Benfica together.

Although a meager 8.5 million bid from the Champions League quarter-finalists is not helpful at first glance, it will do wonders to get the second-string keeper off Arsenal’s payroll as Aaron Ramsdale impresses in the Emirates.

7. Fulham

Is it a bad sign that newly promoted Premier League side Fulham is already 232 million pounds in debt? Yes.

The club needs to sign players to contend with the staggering caliber of their new foes, and their massive debt could stop that. Yet unlike the mighty Catalan club Barcelona, their debt should not impede their shopping spree too much.

Transfer journalists link the Cottagers with all sorts of moves. The Athletic recently paired Leno and explosive Shakhtar Donetsk winger Manor Solomon with Fulham, while the Liverpool Echo reported Fulham is monitoring Takumi Minamino and Neco Williams.

Fulham will make room for some of these signings by saying goodbye to Jean Michael Seri, who earned a staggering 65,000 pounds per week.

Andre Zambo Anguissa will also leave after Napoli bid 12 million pounds for the Cameroonian carrier, who impressed on loan in the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.

To avoid relegation from the Premier League, Fulham needs to bolster its squad with signings, and their debt cannot get in the way.

6 Leicester City

Good news for Leicester City? The club’s revenue is trending upwards, with its 311 million euro debt somewhat acceptable considering the Foxes’ previous financial history. The bad news? Leicester’s results are down, and they will miss out on European competition after finishing ninth. It means that Leicester’s players will eye a move elsewhere as Leicester prepare to mount another Europa League challenge. Youri Tielemans could make a move to either side of the North London Derby, and Tottenham is also interested in James Maddison.

Signings are needed to appease Leicester fans and mount a bid for continental competition again. Coveted youngsters like Ibrahim Sangare and Charles de Ketelaere all floated around as names Leicester could check out. Yet great fees come with great players, with both players valued at over 20 million pounds.

The Foxes will certainly make a signing in the summer soon. The higher-ups in the King Power Stadium will care more about which players depart. Leicester’s hefty debt will put Brendan Rodgers and his staff under stress to find a cheap player who can guide Leicester to European competition.

5. Everton

Everton’s mighty debt will be the most troubling of them all. Where Tottenham, Liverpool, and Manchester United can easily find a way through their debts by playing well in Europe, Everton will need to make sales to lessen its financial debt.

After narrowly avoiding relegation thanks to Richarlison’s heroics, Europe’s top clubs will circle Everton’s top players.

Tottenham is interested in Richarlison, valued at over 50 million pounds, and PSG wants to sign Everton’s Moise Kean, who was on loan at Juventus. It leaves Everton with a gaping attacking hole to fill, and their 353 million euro debt will not make signing forwards easily.

Everton is eyeing a move for Armando Broja, who scored nine times in 38 games for Southampton. He is not cheap though, with Transfermarkt estimating Broja’s value to be around 16 million pounds.

It means that selling want-away Italian forward Moise Kean away will be imperative. It should be Everton’s main goal if they want to free up space for incoming transfers.

With a Richarlison move more and more likely, Everton will need to pair aggressive behavior in the transfer market with smart moves to sell other Everton players for hefty fees.

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4. Liverpool

The burning pain of Liverpool’s Champions League heartbreaking still burns for Liverpool fans, even though they won the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup to complete an elusive domestic double.

Even with Colombian wunderkind Luis Diaz joining the squad in January, the club still could not claim Champions League glory against Real and failed to overcome Manchester City’s staggering reign of dominance. Although trophies are flowing in like water for the Reds, Liverpool’s debt still must be resolved.

For the most part, Liverpool manages their money responsibly, unlike some of its English contemporaries. Their recent signing of Darwin Nunez can be the club’s biggest signing ever if Benfica collects Liverpool’s proposed add-ons.

Their overload of attacking talent, including incoming Portuguese winger Fabio Carvalho, means that some forwards could potentially leave the club. Whether it is wantaway striker Sadio Mane or out-of-favor winger Roberto Firmino, it is likely that Liverpool will lose a key cog in their attack.

With pressure mounting on the Reds to win another Champions League, Liverpool must bolster their squad with some signings.

Their 386 million euro debt makes maneuvering the transfer market somewhat difficult, but Jurgen Klopp will find a way to make his squad even more competitive for the 2022-2023 season.

3. Brighton

The Seagulls’ surprising 393 million euro debt is likely one of the reasons star midfielder Yves Bissouma reportedly departed for Spurs.

As Brighton looks for a way out of their sticky financial situation and tries to avoid relegation in the Premier League, they will need to look for cheap signings.

One of them includes Belgian international Michy Batshuayi, whose contract expires next summer.

Batshuayi, valued at around ten million euros, is a constant threat to Belgium, but never reproduces his international form on the club level. Zaidi Sanusi, who won a league double with Porto, is valued at around seventeen million euros by interested clubs. Brighton is in the chase for the coveted player but faces heavy competition from Crystal Palace and Fulham.

Brighton’s mediocrity means they will not sniff any European action, eliminating any possibility of major competition rewards. Brighton must resolve their debt by selling players.

Energetic left-back Marc Cucurella attracted interest from Manchester City and Chelsea, while Leandro Trossard caught the eye of the new United manager Erik Ten Hag. This summer window will be important to Brighton as they look for a solution to their financial woes and their averageness in England.

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2. Manchester United

When Ajax manager Erik Ten Hag took the Manchester United post from Ralf Rangnick, he not only inherited a ragtag squad lacking chemistry and wins but also took a 580 million euro debt. It should go down soon.

United qualified for the Europa League group stage, something that should yield a lot of ticket sales and prize money. They also will see a lot of players depart Old Trafford. From Edinson Cavani and Juan Mata to Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba, United will see some of the team’s top earners leave the club.

It gives United some leeway to spend on players. Frenkie de Jong could make a move from Barca to the Red Devils, and Christian Eriksen could join United after a series of show-stopping performances with Brentford.

Old Trafford fans will get more good news in Dean Henderson’s contract talks with Nottingham Forest.

So far, looking past the mass departures in the early hours of the transfer window, the transfer window is shaping up to be a productive one.

With a host of financial problems awaiting United, one must wonder how the Red Devils will approach this conundrum.

With over 500 million euros in debt,  will the owner step in? Or will United devolve into a spiral of spending until they end up like Barca? Only time will tell.

1. Tottenham

The English club with the most debt is Tottenham. Their staggering 826 million euro debt was worth it.

They qualified for the Champions League and forged an impressive run into the Carabao Cup. Finally, back in the Champions League with a chance of restocking their trophy cabinet, Spurs needs to bolster their squad.

They are doing it with the supposed signings of Yves Bissouma, Richarlison, and Alessandro Bastoni. Despite a financial crisis, they are one of the most active teams in the transfer market. They look like one of the strongest teams in England, if not in Europe.

Their extravagance will come at a price(both figuratively and literally). With Tottenham’s expenses rumored to be in the nine-digit level, they will either have to give away money or players.

It seems Tottenham is doing the latter, selling Cameroon Carter-Vickers to Celtic and trying to find a new club for Steven Bergwijn and Harry Winks.