Hey, big spenders! If you’re looking to start a new FM save with one of the richest clubs in FM22 and enjoy splashing the cash on signing the top players in the game, this article is for you.

We’ve put together the five biggest transfer budgets in Football Manager 2022, running through some of the best teams to manage in FM22 if you want money to spend on the most expensive players and best wonderkids. Plus, we also bring you the best of the rest, including some interesting and unexpected options.

It’s important to note: a big bank balance doesn’t always lead to equally big Football Manager 2022 transfer budgets.

Some clubs appear incredibly rich but perhaps their owners aren’t as willing to see their investment frittered away in the transfer market, or their level of debt makes it too risky a strategy.

Spurs for example have a whopping £380m in the bank, but that amount is dwarfed by almost £900m of debt, leaving them only £15m to spend. You might need to look towards the best free transfers in Football Manager 2022 if this is the case, or try to increase your transfer budget in other ways.

On the other hand, those clubs that are free of debt, and/or have the type of ambitious owner who likes to speculate to accumulate, are likely to make far more cash available to their managers for new signings.

As we shall see shortly, reputation means nothing these days, and there’s now a stark difference in buying power between those clubs that are solvent thanks to wealthy benefactors, and those that are saddled with debt and struggling to manoeuvre in the transfer market.

Let’s jump straight in with the number one team on the list, and the new kings of the footballing world. 

Newcastle Utd – £200m

Yes, that’s right. The controversial takeover of Newcastle by a Saudi-backed consortium sees them jump from the depths of obscurity to become the biggest hitters in world football, with an absolutely obscene transfer budget of £200m!

The buyout has seen the club’s coffers injected with an enormous amount of cash that brings their bank balance up to £258m. With all their debts cleared in one fell swoop, the board have no objection to spending the vast majority of this cash, knowing that they can make further investments from an almost bottomless war chest.

They’ll need it though, as the squad will require a complete overhaul if it’s going to compete with the big guns. The question then becomes how they will justify such an enormous outlay under the league’s financial fair play rules.

Noticeably, Newcastle’s wage budget hasn’t been increased to the same extent. They now have an available weekly budget of £2m, and their current spend is only 1.4m per week, leaving plenty of room to expand. However, compared to the big boys in the Premier League, who are spending closer to £4m or £5m per week, Newcastle managers may still find it difficult to compete at the highest level initially.

Of course, with all that transfer money available, funds can be easily diverted into the wage budget if you don’t spend it all. So let’s see how quickly you can turn these perennial also-rans into regular title challengers!

Man City – £100m

Such is the extent of Newcastle’s new found riches, the transfer budget for Man City (who we’re used to seeing at the top of these lists) pales in comparison. However, a healthy bank balance of £80m and no debt to speak of enables a transfer budget of £100m, still a sizeable chunk of cash.

Furthermore, the Citizens already have a world class squad at their disposal, so only minor alterations to the playing staff are required. The only area of the team that could do with improving is in the striker position, where a replacement has yet to be found for departing club legend, Sergio Aguero. FM managers could feasibly spend their whole budget on a new number nine!

City also have a wage budget of over £4m per week, making it twice that of Newcastle’s, so they will surely continue to have the edge over the new pretenders to their throne….for now.

Real Madrid – £51m

Arguably the most famous name in the sport with an unprecedented history of domestic and European success, Real will be hurting to find themselves so far behind the top two. Unlike their oil-rich Premier League rivals, Real have amassed a significant level of debt in recent years, totalling £525m.

They still have over £110m in the bank though and benefit from enormous global revenue streams that enable them to service their sizeable debt. This allows them to maintain significant clout in the transfer market, with £51m made available for new signings.

Real also have the second largest wage budget in the game, at £5.5m per week, enabling them to attract the biggest talents in the world to come play for them. The current squad remains strong, but it can’t compare with the famous Galactico teams of the past, so serious investment will be required to maintain the level of achievement to which their fans have become accustomed.

Such enormous outgoings in wages and loan repayments mean any prospective manager will have to be careful not to stretch the club’s finances any further, but will still be required to deliver success on the pitch. This is a high pressure job with little room for error. 

Chelsea – £40m

Chelsea are the third English club to feature in the top five, demonstrating how powerful the Premier League has become in the modern footballing world.

It is now almost 20 years since Roman Abramovich walked into Stamford Bridge with an open cheque book. Since then, he has bankrolled the London club to enormous success in the form of five Premier League titles, two Champions League trophies and five FA Cup wins.

With £139m in the bank and a modest £38m in debt to repay, the club remains in rude financial health under the Russian billionaire. As a result, a hefty £40m is available to managers taking charge at Chelsea in order to make changes to the playing staff, though few appear to be necessary.

The squad is well balanced and flush with world-class talent. At 36, the evergreen Thiago Silva is the only player with one eye on retirement, while the rest of the squad are either at their peak, or yet to reach it. This mix of financial stability and optimal squad strength offers an appealing save for those managers wishing to join a team that’s already a viable title challenger, and has the cash to further improve their prospects.

PSG – £38.5m

Rounding out the top five are PSG, owners of perhaps the most feared frontline in world football. Following Lionel Messi’s surprise arrival in the summer, the Ligue 1 giants were able to deploy him alongside their other superstar talents in young Frenchman, Kylian Mbappe and Brazilian showman, Neymar.

Despite also bringing in Spanish legend, Sergio Ramos, as well as Italy’s no.1, Gianluigi Donnarumma, the Parisians may not be finished in the transfer market just yet. An additional £38.5m has been made available for further reinforcements to a squad that is already by far the strongest in Ligue 1.

Their current wage spending far exceeds anything else in Ligue 1, at an astronomical £6.2m per week (the largest in the game), so there should be little difficulty in seeing off their domestic challengers. The real prize for managers will be to finally claim the coveted Champions League trophy, one that PSG have failed to deliver since their own big-money takeover in 2011.

Honourable Mentions

The usual suspects of Man Utd, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool still feature towards the top of the list with FM 22 transfer budgets of £30m, £25.5m and £20m, respectively. But there are also some more unexpected heavyweights in the transfer market, with Ajax (£30m), Athletic Bilbao (£21m) and Dinamo Moscow (£21m) all blessed with owners willing to splash the cash.

The Red Bull affiliate teams of Leipzig and Salzburg are also generously supported by their wealthy backers to the tune of £17m each.

Predictably, there’s a lot of additional money floating around the Premier League, even outside of the top clubs, with Aston Villa, Wolves, Spurs, Arsenal and Leicester all having a healthy amount to invest in transfers.

One big name you might notice is missing is that of Barcelona.

The recent financial troubles the Catalan giants have experienced not only forced them to sell their most prized assets, but also leaves them with absolutely nothing to spend on replacements.

Being £25m in the red with a further £830m worth of debt also means that any further sales will only give you 35% of the revenue available to reinvest. Tread with care if you choose to take charge at Barca!