British Expats - Footballs' big spender's !

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Footballs' big spender's !

The Barclays Premier League clubs' squads cost a staggering £1.65billion to assemble. That's so much money it's difficult to comprehend - and it doesn't even take the players' wages into account.

1. Chelsea - £200.7m League position: Third
Roman Abramovich's billions brought Chelsea two league titles, an FA Cup, two league cups and oh-so-close in the Champions League within four years.
Abramovich's billions are yet to yield the Champions League, but Frank Lampard's £11m move from West Ham, the home-grown talent of John Terry and Michael Ballack's free transfer from Bayern Munich seem shrewd buys compared to the proliferation of £15m-plus players driving their Bentleys into Chelsea's training ground.

2. Manchester United - £189.65m League position: First
Sir Alex Ferguson's success has been built on players like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes who learnt their trade at Old Trafford, yet his current squad still cost £189.65m. The £18.6m United spent on Michael Carrick and the £29.1m for Rio Ferdinand showed Ferguson is prepared to back his instincts, whilst the £12.25m paid to bring Ronaldo to Old Trafford was an absolute steal.

3. Tottenham - £187.2m League position: 14th
All the gear and no idea springs to mind, but this figure is skewed by the return of Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane to White Hart Lane. Even so, £187.2m represents a significant outlay for a Carling Cup trophy and a relegation battle. Plus Redknapp is always complaining about the relatively small size of his first team squad.

4. Man City - £166.6m League position: 10th
Yeah, yeah. Manchester City are in the early stages of a 10-year development plan. But £166.6m? The jury's still out, but Man City's willingness to pay double figures for standard Premier League players seems a touch naive.

5. Liverpool - £140.6m League position: Second
Fernando Torres' £22m record transfer fee is the most Liverpool have paid for a player and the Spain striker has been worth every penny. But there are perhaps too many £10m-plus players in Rafa Benitez's squad who haven't set the world on fire, such as £12m Albert Riera. Home-grown talents Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher remain at the heart of Liverpool's title challenge.

6. Newcastle - £81.6m League position: 15th
Dennis Wise needs to take a long, hard look at himself if he's still in charge of transfers at St James' Park. More than £80m has got Newcastle absolutely nowhere.

7. Aston Villa - £81.55m League position: Fourth
The £3.5m Villa paid for Emile Heskey sums up the club's general approach to transfer dealings - solid and unshowy. Martin O'Neill's young guns represent great value for money as they challenge for a Champions League spot.

8. Arsenal - £74.4m League position: Fifth
A squad comprising immense young talent would perhaps benefit from a few major signings to boost the club's progress, but this is not the Arsenal way. Debt-free and living by their own means, the Arsenal model is to be admired for its sustainability.

9. Sunderland - £68.5m League position: 13th
Roy Keane spent a lot of cash as he brought top flight football back to Wearside and Sunderland are not quite showing the value for money to repay Niall Quinn's faith.

10. West Ham - £62.25m League position: Eighth
The Hammers had a very large squad and Zola has been shrewd in off-loading fringe players on loan deals during the transfer window. West Ham's £62.25m squad seems about right for a club of its size.:curse:

11. Everton - £60.25m League position: Sixth
David Moyes has done a magnificent job of making Everton a competitive Premier League outfit on limited resources. The club's £60m outlay for consistently good Premier League finishes is highly commendable.

12. Portsmouth - £51.6m League position: 16th
A £50m squad looked a bargain under Redknapp but seems excessive under Tony Adams, especially when you consider it cost almost double that of Stoke City, with whom Pompey are equal on points in the Premier League.

13. Middlesbrough - £47.4m League position: 19th
At almost £50m Boro's squad should be strong enough to stay up, but it's not looking good.

14. Fulham - £45.2m League position: Ninth
Another British manager proving prudent in his wheeler-dealings, Roy Hodgson joins David Moyes in doing well with relatively limited resources.

15. Wigan - £38.3m League position: Seventh
Steve Bruce snapped up Wilson Palacios for £1m and Wigan made a £13m profit on the player when he moved to Spurs earlier this month, representing outstanding business for the Lancashire club.The Latics were canny in recouping £3.5m for Emile Heskey and are doing extremely well in the Premier League considering the cost of their squad.

16. Bolton - £34.75m League position: 12th
£12m on Johann Elmander? Hmmmm. Thus said, Bolton are good value if you compare their outlay with that of Newcastle, Sunderland or Middlesbrough.

17. Blackburn - £34.4m League position: 18th
Roque Santa Cruz is Blackburn's biggest asset and the club did not cash in on him in the transfer window. Good on them. The big spending days of Premier League success are gone but, if Sam Allardyce can pull the club out of its current slump, Blackburn should continue to do well on a relatively small budget.

18. West Brom - £32.1m League position: 20th
With the most expensive squad of the three promoted teams, West Brom will perhaps suffer the heaviest blow if they go straight back down.

19. Stoke - £27m League position: 17th
A £27m squad has held a £140.6m equivalent (Liverpool) to a 0-0 draw twice in the same season. It may not always be pretty, but Stoke are playing within their means.

20. Hull - £17.4m League position: 11th
A squad that cost less than £10m before January performed far, far beyond anyone's expectations in the first half of the season. Even if the bubble has burst, Hull City deserve to be proud of themselves. Don't forget, the club nearly went bankrupt 10 years ago.