Manchester United has been found to have paid the most for their bit part players, over the last 3 years.
The news comes after the Soccerex Transfer Review – 2016. It analysed the last 3 years of Premier League players by their transfer cost compared to the percentage of their team’s total game time that they played. The review recorded which players failed to play 50% of their club’s total game time.
Manchester United topped the list with £117 million worth of players playing less than half of their game time. The big two in this were Ángel Di María (£59.7 million and Marouane Fellaini (£27.5 million), who account for well over half of total cost.
Despite playing less than 50% of United’s total game time, Ángel Di María still managed get the 3rd most assists in the Premier League.
Marouane Fellaini however has clearly been a waste of money, especially at the appalling fee of £27.5 million. Unfortunately the Belgian has served as little more than a reminder of the terrible Moyes season.
In a close second came Tottenham Hotspur with £100 million worth of bench warmers. Third place was no surprise with Manchester City but the order, and amount, of the next three are quite unexpected.
In fourth were Liverpool, having £50.4 million worth of their team playing under 50% of their games. Then Arsenal having only £34.3 million not featuring in half of their games and Chelsea came in sixth, just being edged by the Gunners by £1.5 million.
In total, the Premier League had £475 million of talent play less than 50% of their team’s game time. This fee will only increase with the record transfer fee total going up every season.
