Benfica the "best managed club" in Europe since 2014 - Porto and Sporting in top 10

Benfica are considered the most well-run club of the last five years, according to data taken from Transfermarkt.

The data takes into consideration both the expenditure on signings and the income made on player sales, with the overall balance comparing the money spent and money made used to rank how efficiently each club is managed.

Using this method, it is Benfica that come out on top, deemed by far the best-run club in Europe, having an overall balance of 527.5 million euros over the last five years.

That’s because, while Benfica have spent 180.1 million euros on players since 2014, they have brought in an impressive 707.3 million euros through player departures in the same time period, giving them an overall profit of over 527 million euros.

Coming in 2nd in the rankings were Leonardo Jardim’s Monaco, who were far behind Benfica, with an overall balance of 359.4 million euros; even if you were to ignore the sale of Joao Felix to Atletico Madrid for 120 million euros, Benfica would still be comfortably the “best managed club” in Europe ahead of Monaco.

It is Porto that then come in 3rd; having spent 235.1 million euros since 2014, they have also sold 471 million euros of talent in that time, giving them an overall balance of 235.9 million euros.

Sporting CP also make the top 10 in the list, coming in at number 9. They have spent less than both Benfica and Porto (156.6M) but have only brought in 267.4 million euros in the last 5 years through player sales, giving them an overall balance of 110.8 million euros.

That puts them ahead of Athletic Bilbao in 10th, but below Ajax, Red Bull Salzburg, Olympique Lyon, Genoa and Shakhtar Donetsk.