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Do richer clubs win more trophies in Europe?

Numerous elements contribute to determining how much football clubs in the ‘Big Five’ leagues are worth.

Players are a primary asset for clubs, whether acquired from elsewhere or developed in-house.

With that in mind, read on as we examine the market value of each team in the top five European leagues (figures correct as of January 1, 2026).

From there, we assess the impact those valuations have had on teams winning silverware from the 2015/16 season onwards.

Premier League

TEAMMARKET VALUE
Arsenal€1.31bn
Manchester City€1.21bn
Chelsea€1.18bn
Liverpool€1.04bn
Tottenham Hotspur€878.50m
Manchester United€719.15m
Newcastle United€712.95m
Nottingham Forest€627.60m
Aston Villa€519.50m
Brighton & Hove Albion€523.00m
Crystal Palace€501.60m
Bournemouth€483.85m
Brentford€455.90m
Everton€400.85m
West Ham United€371.25m
Sunderland€364.05m
Wolverhampton Wanderers€353.85m
Fulham€355.95m
Leeds United€313.03m
Burnley€252.15m

The market value of the 20 teams in the Premier League is €12.57 billion. This is almost two-and-a-half times more than La Liga.

La Liga

TEAMMARKET VALUE
Real Madrid€1.35bn
Barcelona€1.12bn
Atletico Madrid€600.50m
Athletic Club€303.00m
Villarreal€269.70m
Real Sociedad€250.70m
Real Betis€219.80m
Valencia€156.00m
Celta Vigo€148.40m
Girona€146.50m
Sevilla€132.60m
Espanyol€107.20m
Elche€101.10m
Rayo Vallecano€94.30m
Osasuna€88.50m
Levante€85.50m
Real Mallorca€81.60m
Deportivo Alaves€69.50m
Getafe€68.60m
Real Oviedo€61.00m

La Liga’s total market valuation is €5.45bn, placing it just ahead of the tally in Serie A.

Serie A

TEAMMARKET VALUE
Inter Milan€693.80m
Juventus€602.70m
Napoli€503.30m
AC Milan€471.50m
Atalanta€459.10m
Roma€401.00m
Como€285.10m
Fiorentina€285.35m
Bologna€272.80m
Lazio€266.35m
Udinese€152.35m
Sassuolo€148.60m
Parma€153.08m
Torino€152.75m
Genoa€141.95m
Cagliari€102.23m
Pisa€96.00m
Hellas Verona€91.20m
Cremonese€77.15m
Lecce€75.38m

Italy’s top-flight clubs have a combined market valuation of $5.34bn.

Bundesliga

TEAMMARKET VALUE
Bayern Munich€980.65m
Borussia Dortmund€511.40m
Bayer Leverkusen€431.25m
RB Leipzig€409.55m
Eintracht Frankfurt€379.40m
Stuttgart€349.90m
Wolfsburg€236.20m
Hoffenheim€203.85m
Werder Bremen€188.80m
Freiburg€182.20m
Borussia Monchengladbach€151.65m
FC Augsburg€149.38m
Mainz 05€135.20m
Cologne€130.78m
Hamburg€130.00m
Union Berlin€125.40m
St Pauli€64.18m
Heidenheim€53.75m

Bundesliga’s 18 clubs have a market valuation of €4.81bn. Bayern’s €980.65 market value is almost double Borussia Dortmund’s figure.

Ligue 1

TEAMMARKET VALUE
Paris Saint-Germain€1.15bn
Marseille€397.55m
Monaco€348.30m
Strasbourg€278.30m
Lille€215.60m
Lyon€180.75m
Stade Rennais€172.30m
Nice€177.60m
Paris FC€102.80m
Lens€88.35m
Toulouse€90.40m
Brest€88.70m
Nantes€86.60m
Auxerre€71.85m
Lorient€65.95m
Metz€51.55m
Le Havre€46.25m
Angers€32.65m

Ligue 1 clubs have a combined market value of €3.64bn. PSG’s €1.15bn total is almost three times more than Marseille’s figure.

Trophies Comparison

The following table lists all the winners of major silverware since the 2015/16 season.

To bring Premier League teams into line with their European counterparts, only one domestic cup competition (FA Cup) is included.

TEAMLEAGUECUPUCLUELUECLTOTAL
Paris Saint-Germain871  16
Bayern Munich931  13
Real Madrid415  10
Barcelona55   10
Juventus55   10
Manchester City621  9
Chelsea111115
Liverpool211  4
Inter Milan22   4
Napoli21   3
Manchester United213
Sevilla   3 3
Leicester City11   2
Atletico Madrid1  1 2
Bayer Leverkusen11   2
Eintracht Frankfurt 1 1  
Arsenal 2   2
Borussia Dortmund 2   2
RB Leipzig 2   2
Monaco1    1
Lille1    1
AC Milan1    1
Crystal Palace 1   1
Stade Rennais 1   1
Nantes 1   1
Toulouse 1   1
Lazio 1   1
Bologna 1   1
Valencia 1   1
Real Sociedad 1   1
Real Betis 1   1
Athletic Club 1   1
Stuttgart 1   1
Villarreal   1  
Atalanta   1  
Tottenham Hotspur   1  
Roma    11
West Ham United    11
Olympiacos    11

Analysis

PSG top the standings in terms of trophies won, although their tally is undoubtedly skewed by the disparity in market valuations in Ligue 1.

Their €1.15bn total accounts for almost one-third of Ligue 1’s overall figure, reflecting their significantly greater resources.

Intriguingly, if Burnley switched from the Premier League to Ligue 1, their €252.15m market valuation would place them fifth on the list.

It is a similar story in the Bundesliga, where Bayern’s wealth has allowed them to assemble a squad which is worth almost twice as much as their nearest rivals.

This has helped them to dominate domestically. However, much like PSG, this has not translated into sustained success in UEFA’s competitions.

Bayern and PSG have each won the Champions League once in the past ten seasons, a tally overshadowed by Real Madrid’s five.

The La Liga giants’ €1.35bn market valuation is the highest of any club in Europe, and they have capitalised by regularly winning UEFA’s top prize.

By contrast, while Premier League clubs have collectively assembled squads worth €12.57bn, this has not helped them dominate Europe.

Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool have each won the Champions League once in the last ten seasons, which is a poor return for the English top flight.

Broadening the parameters to include the Europa League and Europa Conference League does little to dispel the notion that English clubs have collectively underperformed in continental competitions.

Of the 14 other trophies that were up for grabs during the timeframe studied, Premier League teams won five (Europa League x 3, Europa Conference League x 2).

Despite having the third-highest market collective valuation of the ‘Big Five’ leagues, no Serie A club has triumphed in the Champions League in the last ten seasons.

Atalanta (Europa League) and Roma (Europa Conference League) are the only Italian teams to win European silverware during this period.

Ligue 1 has fared even worse, with PSG’s success in the Champions League last season the only major trophy claimed by a French club.

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