Revealed: The Big Six Premier League Club Wasting The Most Money On Forwards

The January transfer window is now open and for Premier League managers that is a chance to strengthen their squads for the remainder of the season. 

Whether a manager gets the players he wants will depend on where the team is in the table. 

If they are in danger of being relegated, owners might be prepared to open their wallet hoping fresh faces might keep them in the most lucrative league in the world. 

Managers who have a chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League might also get the players they want to push for a top-four finish.

Every new signing is a gamble and with financial fair play rules to adhere to, signing the right players becomes a lot harder.

The 20 Premier League clubs spent a record £2.44bn on new signings in the summer transfer window. 

Some have been hits, others have been misses. Erling Haaland has been the biggest hit in the history of the league and is favourite to win a second successive Golden Boot with football betting sites.

Every club is looking to find the next Haaland, who joined Manchester City from Dortmund for £51m in the summer of 2022. 

The Norwegian has scored 50 goals in just 50 league games, including a Premier League record 32 in his debut season. 

However, some clubs are more prone to wasting cash on attackers who are not returning on their large investments than others.

That’s why at Gambling.com, we took a deep dive into other forwards signed by the traditional top six for an initial £35m+ fee (with a minimum 10 league games played) and see how they compare to City's scoring sensation since he came into the Premier League in the summer 2022 transfer window.

Manchester United Wasting The Most Money On Attacking Talent

Manchester United have been a soap opera since winning their 20th and last Premier League title in 2013 in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season as boss.

Erik ten Hag is the sixth and latest United manager to find out just how difficult a task it is to bring the good times back. 

The Dutchman arrived in England at the same time as Haaland, but United's signings under Ten Hag have underperformed considerably compared to Haaland. 

Antony cost £82m in the summer of 2022 while Rasmus Hojlund cost £64m last summer, but the pair have combined for just five goals and two assists in 56 games. 

That equates to a whopping £20m per goal involvement, a shocking figure for Reds fans when it’s compared to their greatest rivals cost per goal involvement. 

Pep Guardiola’s side also signed Jeremy Doku last summer, but can boast spending just £1.5m per goal involvement from attackers costing more than £35m since Haaland landed in England. 

United's new part-owner Jim Radcliffe will be in charge of football matters at Old Trafford going forward and better recruitment needs to be one of his priorities. 

The Red Devils are outsiders with UK betting sites to qualify for next season’s Champions League, and it’s no surprise given what they are shelling out to get goals.

Magpies Are Moving In The Right Direction

Newcastle fans regard their club as a big club, but they are not regarded as one of the big six, yet. 

After two decades of mediocrity, the Magpies are moving in the right direction and last season they secured a top-four finish.

Their Champions League campaign didn't last longer than the group stage, but it's a healthy foundation to kick on from. 

Recruitment has been good since their takeover in October 2021, with the club resisting the temptation to throw big money at new players as they hunt a Premier League top four spot again.

Since the summer of 2022, Eddie Howe has brought in forwards Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon for £98m in initial fees and both have repaid their manager's faith in them with a healthy contribution of goals and assists. 

Isak has found the back of the net 19 times in 37 appearances, while Gordon has been involved in 13 goals since joining the Magpies in January 2023. 

Their goal involvement cost is £2.9m, which is bettered by only City and Liverpool! 

Hojlund And Antony Need To Hit The Ground Running In 2024

When Rasmus Hojlund was unveiled as United's new signing last summer, hopes were hit that he could be the next Haaland. 

Hojlund's goals for Copenhagen and Denmark persuaded United to fork out £64m for the 20-year-old. 

Some players find it difficult to adapt when joining a big club and that was the case with the Dane who finally got off the mark in the Premier League at the 15th time of asking, after 1,026 minutes of action.

While finding the net in England's top flight proved difficult, Hojlund finished as joint scorer with Antoine Griezmann, Alvaro Morata and Haaland in this season’s Champions League group stage with five goals.

United have no European football to look forward to in the second half of the season. 

If they are to return to the Champions League next season, they can't wait another 1,026 minutes for Hojlund's next league goal. 

Splashing out £64m for one league goal is a terrible return on United's investment. 

The hope is that Hojlund can start the New Year as well as he finished 2023. For Hojlund's team-mate, Antony, the hope is that 2024 is the year United fans see the best from him. 

Since joining United for £82m from Ajax, who were managed by Ten Hag at the time, Antony has scored four league goals in 41 league games. 

Two assists means United's money has paid a princely sum of £13.6m per goal involvement. 

Kai Havertz is third on our list for the most expensive goal involvements since the start of the 2022/23 season. 

The German made the switch across London from Chelsea to Arsenal last summer for a massive £62m, and after a slow start to life at the Emirates, Havertz is beginning to prove his worth. 

Havertz failed to score in his first 11 league and cup games for the Gunners, before scoring the first of four league goals in a 4-0 win at Bournemouth. Arsenal remain one of the favourites to win the title on the leading betting apps.

Whatever players make a move in the Premier League this month, they will do well to better the cost per goal involvement of Haaland. 

Costing just £51m, the Norwegian's cost per goal involvement of £825,000 will be hard to beat.

Methodology

To compile our study, we looked at players who were involved in Premier League transfers since the summer of 2022, when Erling Haaland joined Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund. 

Players included are those who cost an initial fee of £35m+ (before add-ons) according to Sky Sports, BBC Sport and TNT Sport.

Those players needed to have made a minimum of 10 appearances. Statistics including goals and assists have been taken from the Premier League's website.