Fortune swells and losses explode

Barcelona have spent the summer proving they can marry sporting excellence with economic good sense, and the work of Deco and Hansi Flick is now bearing obvious fruit. The club have deepened their squad and lifted the market value of their signings by more than 116 million euros. Elsewhere, the heavyweights have bled money, with Manchester United and Saudi side Al-Hilal leading the losses.

According to Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", Barcelona's return to the 1:1 financial fair play rule let them sign players normally again. That freedom allowed Deco's sporting department to build a balanced squad with at least two options in every position, at similar levels, and sometimes even superior ones.

That depth showed up on the pitch. Barcelona kept their identity and style regardless of who played, racking up ten wins in their first ten official matches at a rate of 4.3 goals per game and a shot every four minutes.

Results were only half of it. A study by the "CIES" football observatory found Barcelona increased the value of their signings by more than 116 million euros over the past five years, with homegrown players left out of the calculations.

Include those academy graduates and the Catalan club would have been a candidate to climb higher still. Eintracht Frankfurt topped the ranking with an increase of 527 million euros, with Real Madrid just behind on 526 million.

Rising valuations across several of their stars drove Real Madrid's gains. Their actual capital gains amounted to 27 million euros, against 499 million euros in notional gains. Kylian Mbappe, a free signing now valued at more than 160 million euros, and Arda Guler, whose value jumped from 30 to 125 million euros, made up an important part of that increase.

Saudi clubs went the other way, watching the value of their assets fall sharply. Al-Hilal posted the worst return of any club in the study, with losses amounting to 502 million euros. In Europe, Manchester United were hit hardest, down 405 million euros.