In the modern era, football finances are more and more important. In short, the teams who spend the most amount of money tend to win the big prizes.

This is why it's so important to have rules in place to make sure clubs not only spend within their means, but also don't just attempt to buy their way to success. Manchester City's swift rise to the top of the sport in recent years, for example, makes a lot more sense when you consider they've been found guilty of breaking Premier League financial rules to get an advantage over their rivals.

The beauty of the sport, however, is that you still need to be smart with your money for it to turn into tangible quality on the pitch. Indeed, many sides spend millions, even billions, but only seem to go backwards.

With that in mind, the clever people at CIES Football Observatory have looked into the transfers of Premier League clubs over the past five years and come up with some great data. The report calculates the balance between fees paid to sign players and money received for selling (loans do not count), as well as the value of players still owned.

All that has then been worked out to give one simple figure. In the Premier League, 16 teams have essentially made a profit on their business, but four teams are left in the red.

4 Premier League Teams Calculated at a Loss

Manchester United sit at the very bottom of the list. In fact, CIES' entire study looks at every team in world football that has spent more than £42m on transfer fees since 2021. Of that group, only Saudi club Al-Nassr have ranked lower than the Red Devils.

Across Europe and the Premier League, Man Utd's calculated loss of £338m (€405m) is the very worst in not just the Premier League but also Europe. They have lost approximately £156m from player sales, while the value of players in under-fire Michael Carrick's squad decreased by a further £184m.

Jadon Sancho joining for £73m only to leave as a free agent is the best example of the club's poor spending, but there are many more examples. The same can be said of Tottenham, who have struggled to land many hits in recent times, despite splashing a fortune on new arrivals over the past five years.

Spurs are down around £157m (€188m), having finished 17th two Premier League seasons in a row. A combined £322 has been committed to the likes of Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Savio and Jan Paul Van Hecke this summer in hopes of pushing the club up the table. If things don't improve, they could be in real financial woe.

Elsewhere, newly promoted duo Ipswich Town and Coventry City just about sit on the wrong side of the line. If either team can avoid the drop, they might just make it into the green.

16 Premier League Teams Calculated at a Profit

Liverpool are just about on the right side of the margin. They are yet to see a great return on the pitch for £100m+ signings like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, but the pair have yet to see their values plummet either.

Fulham are also just above the cut, before there's a big jump up to the €100m mark. In this group of Hull City, Everton and Arsenal, the Gunners have undoubtedly spent the most, and aren't necessarily the best-selling club. Even so, with players rarely decreasing in value under the high-level coaching of Mikel Arteta, the reigning Premier League champions have a respectable calculated value of £92m (€110m).

Leeds United and Crystal Palace appear to be wise with their spending as they sit comfortably mid-table. Aston Villa also rank in this section, ninth in the league as it were, no doubt helped by Unai Emery's talent at getting the best out of his squad.

Chelsea spend wildly in the transfer market, but they are also very good at selling. While Morgan Rogers cost £117m this summer, and big fees were also spent on the likes of Marco Palestra, Geovany Quenda, and Maxence Lacroix among others, the club were able to bring in huge sums in player sales. Notably, Enzo Fernandez drew in £125m from Man City, while they also got around £50m for Andrey Santos and Marc Cucurella.

Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United sneak into sixth and seventh before Sunderland smash through the £200m mark. It just goes to show how well-run the Black Cats are, along with Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth, as they all look very healthy when it comes to net transfer balance.

Sitting at the very top of the pile, however, Man City come in with a calculated figure of £373m (€447m). Amid their guilty charges verdict, it's hard not to look at the Etihad club without a wary eye, but it's true that they appear to buy and sell well in the transfer market.

They spent over £100m each on Fernandez and Elliot Anderson this summer, while fellow midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi wasn't far off the mark either. But the sales of Rodri (£65m), Savinho (£85), Tijjani Reijnders (£52) and Nico Gonzalez (£48m) go some way to balancing the books. Add to that the ever-improving value of star striker Erling Haaland, and it's easy to see why the club ranks top here.