Barcelona, Man Utd and the 10 clubs with the most debt in Europe

Cameron Smith

• 31 May 2022 20:57 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona top Deloitte's list of European clubs with the most debt, with the Catalan giants amassing a huge €1.35 billion worth of debt following recent investment.

The Blaugrana's financial struggles have been well-documented, with the club unable to extend Lionel Messi's contract last summer due to insufficient space on their wage bill.

The Argentine joined Paris Saint-Germain after an emotional departure from Camp Nou, but that wasn't the end of Barcelona's troubles in regards to money.

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As things stand, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen, both expected to join on free transfers, can't be registered and according to Cadena Ser, Barcelona must generate €500 million before June 30 in order to balance their books.

That is because of the vast sum of debt accumulated by the club.

But, while Barcelona top the list by a fairly long way, there are several other big European teams in a lot of debt.

What teams across Europe are in the most debt?

As mentioned, Barcelona top the list with their huge wage bill and big-money signings like Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann contributing heavily.

Interestingly, Juventus are second on the list, with the Old Lady racking up €900 million in debt. After finishing fourth in Serie A, they aren't performing well on or off the pitch. A swap deal with Barcelona involving Miralem Pjanic and Arthur Melo highlighted the club's financial issues.

In third is Tottenham with a debt of €826m. Spurs' revolutionary, modern stadium opened in 2019 after costs of around €1bn to build.

Next up is Serie A runners-up Inter at €702m. The Nerazzurri haven't spent too much money recently and lost Romelu Lukaku and Achraf Hakimi, as well as Antonio Conte, last summer, but have amassed a large amount of debt.

Inter's city rivals AC Milan are closely behind at €666m, while Real Madrid follow with €662m of debt. Los Blancos missed out on signing Kylian Mbappe for free one year after offering €200m for his services.

Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Liverpool round off the top 10.

Man Utd in particular are preparing for a big summer of spending under Erik ten Hag, which will only increase their debt.