Leeds’ place in the below table compiled by football finance expert Kieran Maguire sheds light on why the club found itself in dire straits during the early 2000s, after expending tens of millions on players, which at the time represented a sum in excess of the club’s earnings.
Maguire described the table as such: “Inflation (using revenue as a measure of changing purchasing power) adjusted record transfer spending per season.”
Here are the 20 teams to have spent the most on players in any given Premier League season since 1992/93, adjusted for 2024 inflation.
1. Chelsea: 2003/04
IN: £881.2m (Hernan Crespo, Claude Makelele, Scott Parker, Alexey Smertin, Juan Sebastian Veron, Adrian Mutu, Joe Cole, Damien Duff, Wayne Bridge, Geremi, Glen Johnson) | Getty Images
2. Chelsea: 2022/23
IN: £806.0m (Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Gabriel Slonina, Carney Chukwuemeka, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Enzo Fernandez, Mykhailo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Malo Gusto) | Getty Images
3. Chelsea: 2005/06
IN: £547.6m (Michael Essien, Asier Del Horno, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Lassana Diarra) | AFP via Getty Images
4. Chelsea: 2004/05
IN: £500.9m (Petr Cech, Arjen Robben, Mateja Kezman, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Tiago, Didier Drogba, Jiri Jarosik) | AFP via Getty Images
5. Manchester City: 2010/11
IN: £482.6m (Mario Balotelli, James Milner, Aleksandar Kolarov, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Jerome Boateng, Edin Dzeko) | Getty Images
6. Manchester City: 2009/10
IN: £469.9m (Carlos Tevez, Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Joleon Lescott) | AFP via Getty Images