REVEALED: Chelsea have made the most money in player sales of any club in the past 10 years, but Arsenal and Man United don’t make the top 30 – and one Championship club ranks 19th

Chelsea has received more revenue from player sales than any other club over the past decade.

The Blues have made headlines over the past 18 months as they have spent more than £1 billion since a Todd Boehly-led consortium took over the club from Roman Abramovich in May 2022.

They were similarly backed in the market by the Russian businessman, but were always shrewd in raising revenue through player sales.

And according to new data from transfer marketChelsea have recorded the highest transfer income since 2014/15, with £1.13 billion in revenue from sending stars.

This includes notable big-money departures such as Eden Hazard’s move to Real Madrid in 2019 for a fee rising to £150 million, along with Kai Havertz’s summer departure to Arsenal for £65 million and Mason Mount’s transfer to Man United for £55 million.

This includes Eden Hazard’s departure to Real Madrid in 2019 for a fee that could rise to £150 million

They have regularly sold academy graduates, with Mason Mount joining Man United for £55m

But players such as Marc Guehi, Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori – three academy graduates – have also been sold for large sums worth a total of £65 million.

Benfica came second behind Chelsea, generating a total transfer income of £1.04 billion, with the Portuguese giants known for producing several top quality players over the years.

This includes Joao Felix’s departure to Atletico Madrid in 2019 at the age of 19 for £113 million, Chelsea’s acquisition of Enzo Fernandez last January for a British record £106.8 million, and Darwin Nunez’s move to Liverpool in 2022 for £85 million.

The likes of Rubian Dias, Goncalo Ramos, Ederson, Raul Jimenez and Nelson Semedo have also left Benfica for more than £30 million in the past decade.

Another talent hotbed, AS Monaco, is in third place, with the Principality side raking in £1.03 billion in transfer income.

This was undoubtedly helped by Kylian Mbappe’s £166 million move to PSG in 2017 and Aurelien Tchouameni’s transfer to Real Madrid for £85.3 million.

Benfica raked in £1.04bn in revenue, including Joao Felix’s £113m move to Atletico Madrid

Monaco came third, helped by Kylian Mbappe’s huge £166 million transfer to PSG in 2017

Juventus (£933m) and Barcelona (£908m) achieved the fourth and fifth largest transfer income respectively.

Only three other English teams joined Chelsea in the top 20, with Arsenal and Manchester United not even in the top 30 teams with the highest transfer income.

Manchester City were in 13th place after selling £678 million worth of talent, while Liverpool were in 15th after raking in £631 million in transfer revenue.

The shock English club to make the top 20 was Southampton, with the Saints sandwiched between Lille in 18th and PSG in 20th respectively.

Although they are now a Championship side after a difficult few years, Southampton have a history of producing and selling promising youngsters, with the likes of James Ward-Prowse, Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw all sold for more than £26 million. .

Meanwhile, they have also helped develop players from other clubs before subsequently being poached, with Virgil van Dijk’s £75m transfer to Liverpool still their highest sale, while Sadio Mane also moved to Anfield for £34m.

Southampton ranked 19th, helped by Virgil van Dijk’s £75 million transfer to Liverpool

The highest transfer income from clubs since the start of the 2014/2015 season

Just this summer, Romeo Lavia was sold to Chelsea in a £58million deal – a year after arriving at St Mary’s for £10.5million.

With FFP restrictions causing increasing complications, continuing to sell stars is likely to be a key part of European clubs’ models in the coming years.