Manchester United are the European club that has lost the most value on the transfer market over the past five years, while Paris Saint-Germain are among the clubs that have best increased the value of their signings.

The latest newsletter from the CIES Football Observatory looked at the appreciation or depreciation of players signed by clubs over the past five years, thereby excluding homegrown players.

The ranking shows which teams make good or bad choices on the market and whether or not they manage to increase the value of their recruits.

To draw up the ranking, the study compares, for players who have already been transferred, the fees paid to sign them with the sums received when they were sold. For players still at their clubs, it compares the amounts invested with their current market value.

There are some very good performers, with a leading duo headed by Eintracht Frankfurt (+£448m, or €527m) and Real Madrid (+£447m, or €526m).

Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid make shrewd deals on the transfer market

Most value added to past 5⃣-year signings' ? ? #Eintracht ?? +€5⃣2⃣7⃣m (+€293m for recruits already sold (fees received ➖ fees paid); +€234m for those still owned (current value ➖ fees paid) ? ? #RealMadrid ?? +€5⃣2⃣6⃣m ? #PSG ?? +€4⃣9⃣0⃣m ? https://t.co/Zpa5oFdIet #Benfica ?? #ManCity ??????? #VfB ?? #Villarreal ?? #RBLeipzig ?? #UnionSG ?? #Atalanta ??

— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) October 14, 2026

Real Madrid mainly benefit from latent gains, notably thanks to Kylian Mbappe, signed on a free transfer and now valued at more than £128m (€150m), and Arda Guler, signed for £25.5m (€30m) and now estimated at £102m (€120m).

Paris Saint-Germain (+£417m), Benfica (+£415m) and Manchester City (+£380m) complete the top five.

The policy of the French capital club, which since the arrival of Luis Enrique has relied on recruiting young players with high potential, is working on the pitch but also financially. Paris Saint-Germain have notably seen the estimated value of Desire Doue rise by £60m (€70m). Signed for £42.5m (€50m), the player is now valued at £102m (€120m).

Among the worst performers are mainly Saudi clubs. This situation is partly explained by their recruitment policy, which was initially based on the arrival of stars at the end of their careers. Al-Hilal (-£427m) are the club where the depreciation of signings over the past five years has been the greatest.

No European club has lost more than Manchester United

Greatest value loss for past 5⃣-year signings' ? ? #AlHilalSFC ?? -€5⃣0⃣2⃣m (-€315m for recruits already sold (fees received ➖ fees paid); -€187m for those still owned (current value ➖ fees paid) ? #ManUtd ??????? -€4⃣0⃣5⃣m ? #AlNassrFC ?? -2⃣2⃣9⃣€m ? https://t.co/Zpa5oFdaoV #Spurs ??????? #AlIttihad ?? #AlAhli ?? #Spartak ?? #LCFC ??????? #WestHam ??????? #AlArabi ??

— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) October 14, 2026

Al-Nassr (-£195m), Al-Ittihad (-£149m) and Al-Ahli (-£114m) also feature.

Between these Gulf sides are two Premier League giants: Manchester United (-£344m) and Tottenham Hotspur (-£160m). Manchester United are therefore the European club that has lost the most money on the transfer market over the past five years.

Manchester United have lost £158m on signings who have already been sold and have seen the market value of those retained fall by £186m. Signings who were genuine flops contributed to these poor results.

Antony, bought for £76.5million (€90m) and then sold for £21m (€25m), is one example, as are Mason Mount and Andre Onana.