Leeds United's overperforming transfer figure as…

Leeds United's overperforming transfer figure as Victor Orta's busy summer window yields early returns

Leeds United are outperforming their net spend so far this season, according to figures from tranfermarkt.co.uk.

With the £52.2m sale of Raphinha, Leeds actually turned a small profit of £1.75m since the start of January, despite signing Brenden Aaronson for £29.56m.

This means Leeds rank 17th for net spend in the 2022 summer window, with only Manchester City, Brighton and Leicester City spending less than the Yorkshire club.

But with Leeds sat 15th in the table, they are actually performing above their net spend ranking so far this year.

However, the club with the best league position relative to their net spend are champions Manchester City.

The purchase of Erling Haaland for £54m was offset almost entirely by the sale of Raheem Sterling to Chelsea for about £50m, whilst the likes of Jesus, Zinchenko and Ferran Torres also departed.

This meant City made a profit of £52.56m this year, the third lowest net spend in the league.

As a result, City, who are second in the league heading into the World Cup break, have the best league position relative to their net spend of any side in the Premier League.

The club with the second-best relative position is Brighton, who sit seventh in the league despite a net spend that saw them make a profit of £56.79m this year.

This was largely due to the sale of Marc Cucurella to Chelsea for £58.77m, with the Seagulls’ most expensive signing this year coming in at only £16m for Pervis Estupinan.

Next up are Leicester City, who despite a poor start to the season, have risen to 13th in the table, despite the lowest net spend of any top-flight club. The Foxes turned a profit this year of £57.96m due to Wesley Fofana’s move to Chelsea.

Despite a net spend of £98.61m since the start of January, table-toppers Arsenal only ranked seventh in total outlay, making them the fourth best in the league when comparing league position to money spent.

Fulham are another club outperforming their spending, ranking 14th for net expenditure (£35.82m) but sitting in a lofty ninth place in the league.

Topping the net spend charts are newly-rich Newcastle United. Their wealthy Saudi owners have begun splashing the cash, with a net spend of £211.31m in 2022, the highest of any English club.

However, with results on the pitch reflecting their investment, the Magpies are up to third in the league, only two places below their net spend ranking.

But at the other end of the table it’s a different story, with Nottingham Forest’s huge summer spending spree not at all reflected by their league position.

Forest invested a whopping £143.47m net spend into their squad this year in a bid to retain their Premier League status, following their long-awaited promotion, the sixth-highest spend of any club.

Sitting 18th in the table and well and truly fighting a relegation battle, Forest’s new-look squad are underperforming significantly.

Similarly, bottom club Wolves spent £76.32m this year, the eighth-highest in the league, yet are rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, twelve places below their net spend ranking.

West Ham are also performing well below their net spend ranking, with their £146.88m spend the fifth-highest in England, despite the Hammers languishing 16th in the table.

Meanwhile, Southampton’s new owners splashed £66.06m this year to rebuild their young squad, but sit 19th in the league, despite having the ninth-biggest net spend.

Chelsea are the worst-performing ‘big six’ club in this regard. Their gargantuan net spend of £201.32m is second only to Newcastle’s, so to see the Blues sitting outside the European places in eighth is a significant underperformance so far.

The remaining clubs’ league positions largely match up with their overall spending, with Tottenham in particular taking fourth spot in both the league and the net spend rankings.

Similarly, Everton’s 17th place in the Premier League table is an accurate reflection of their modest spend of £31.23m this year, only the 16th-highest of all clubs.

Leeds United's overperforming transfer figure as Victor Orta's busy summer window yields early returns

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