Which Country Has The Most Expensive Squad at Euro 2024?

by Luke Andrews, 18 March 2024

With Euro 2024 fast approaching, each national team’s managers are evaluating their players to decide who will make it into their final squads for the European Championships in Germany; with the usual household names likely to be included, alongside a few surprise names.

We’ve analysed the transfer fees of the players set to feature at Euro 2024, to reveal which country has the most expensively assembled team. With England having several high profile transfers over the last year (Kane to Bayern, Rice to Arsenal to name a couple), they are likely to be amongst the favourites at most Euro 2024 betting sites, and with France having some of the most valuable players in the world in their squad, which team will prove to be the most expensive?

Countries With The Most Free Transfers in Their Squad

During our deep dive into the transfer history of each country, we uncovered several free transfers that clubs took advantage of due to the Bosman ruling. Jean-Marc Bosman played for RFC Liege, and was approaching the end of his contract in 1990, and wanted to move to another club (Dunkerque), however Liege decided to cancel the transfer due to not believing Dunkerque had the funds to finance the transfer. Bosman then sued his club, and took the case to the European Court of Justice , eventually winning the landmark case, meaning players could join other clubs for free when their contract ends.

Below we’ve outlined the number of free transfers that each country has amongst their ranks:

England

England don’t have many free transfers in their squad; either their players have come through the youth ranks, or have joined for generally a high transfer fee. The only player who joined a club on a free transfer is Jordan Henderson, who recently moved to Ajax following a short spell in Saudi Arabia, at Al-Ettifaq.

France

France only have a couple of players who joined other teams on a Bosman – including:

• Marcus Thuram joined Inter Milan for free from Borussia Mönchengladbach
• Adrien Rabiot joined Juventus from PSG
• Mbappe is also still rumoured to be leaving PSG on a free transfer at the end of the season, with Real Madrid his most likely destination.

Germany

Germany have several free transfers in their team, despite the majority of the transfer fees in the Bundesliga being relatively low. Their players to join another team on a Bosman are:

• Leon Goretzka – Bayern Munich (from Schalke 04)
• Antonio Rudiger – Real Madrid (from Chelsea)
• Ilkay Gundogan – Barcelona (from Man City)
• Grischa Prömel – Hoffenheim (from Union Berlin)

Spain

Surprisingly, Spain have the most free transfers in their squad, and in a similar fashion to the Bundesliga, the majority of transfers generally are for quite low amounts compared to the Premier League. Their free transfers include:

• Cesar Azpilicueta – joined Atletico Madrid from Chelsea
• Iñigo Martínez – signed for Barcelona from Bilbao
• Aleix García – joined Girona from Eibar, and was part of the team that topped La Liga for a short period , shocking the football world with their form.
• Joselu – the former Newcastle striker joined Espanyol on a free transfer from Alaves. He is currently on loan at Real Madrid from Espanyol.
• Jesús Navas returned to his boyhood club Sevilla back in 2017, following a short spell at Manchester City. At the age of 37, it would be a surprise to see him in the final squad for the Euros, but his experience at major tournaments could be a huge asset for La Roja.

Portugal

Portugal’s players haven’t historically joined other clubs on free transfers, apart from Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Al-Nassr from Manchester United, after his contract was terminated with the club after he re-signed for them following stints at Real Madrid and Italy. Overall, their squad either consists of players who have made their way to the first team through the youth ranks, or have joined another team for huge sums of money.

Which Team Has The Most Expensive Squad at Euro 2024?

Using transfermarkt.co.uk’s records of each transfer that has taken place, we’ve tallied up the total transfer figures for the top 5 teams at Euro 2024 to discover which country has the most expensive squad, based on their most recent starting 11s and their transfer fees. All figures are in Euros for consistency.

The host nation

Germany didn’t progress as well as expected at the last European Championships, as they were drawn against England in the first knockout stage at Euro 2020, and went out following a 2-0 defeat.

Their squad for Euro 2024 is expected to be one of the most expensive at the tournament in terms of today’s market value, despite the fact that there are several free transfers amongst their squad (such as Rudiger, Goretzka, Sule), and multiple surprisingly low transfer fees in the Bundesliga. Their total starting 11 transfer fees amount to €207.5m

France

Defeated world cup finalists, France were on the receiving end of an upset at the last Euros, losing 4-3 on penalties following a 3-3 draw.

Over the last few years, several French players have transferred for huge sums of money – with the likes of Griezmann, Dembele and Tchouameni joining Barcelona and Real Madrid for eye watering sums, and more recently Randal Kolo Muani joined PSG for 90 million euros, but have also seen several low-cost and free transfers amongst their ranks.

Star striker Kylian Mbappe joined PSG from Monaco back in 2018 for 180 million euros, 2nd in the all time highest transfer fees paid, behind Neymar who also joined PSG. France’s starting 11 transfer fees total €319.7m, however the majority of this is from Mbappe.

England

Whilst transfer fees are expected to be higher in the Premier League, England’s squad is amongst the most expensive ever – in recent years Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish have all moved for figures ranging from 75-100 million, while the likes of Ben Chilwell and Kalvin Phillips moved for fees of around 50m, meaning that the England squad is the most expensive at the Euros with a combined sum of €601.4m, and that doesn’t include Grealish due to him not featuring for England much recently.

Spain

Spain dominated world football for a few years, winning back to back European Championships in 2008 and 2012, with a World Cup win sandwiched between them with some of the best players in the world such as Xavi, Iniesta, Fernando Torres, David Villa and Iker Casillas to name a few. If those players were available at today’s market rates, there’s no doubt they’d be topping the table for the most expensive squad at Euro 2024.

This time around, Spanish players haven’t transferred for huge sums of money – only Kepa to Chelsea (currently on loan at Real Madrid) and Rodri at Man City have gone for a huge sum of around 70million euros, while the rest of the squad is made up of home-grown players who have stayed at their boyhood clubs, or have moved for small sums. Their total squad transfer fee is €222m.

Portugal

Portuguese players often go under the radar when it comes to transfer fees, but in recent years some of their players have moved for eye-watering sums, such as Joao Felix moving to Atletico Madrid from Benfica for 127 million euros, Rafael Leao joining AC Milian from Lille for 49 million euros, Bruno Fernandes joining Man United from Sporting Lisbon for 65 million euros to name just a few.

Their squad is the second most expensive at Euro 2024, with a combined sum of €459.8m

There will no doubt be some upsets and shock wins along the way, but it’s likely that those with the most expensive squads will reach the latter stages of the tournament – don’t be shocked to see two of the above teams competing in the Euro 2024 final on July 14th!

Could a Team of Free Transfers win Euro 2024?

Using lineup-builder.co.uk, we’ve created a team of players who all joined another club for free – how far do you think this team would progress at Euro 2024?