The biggest spenders in European football over the last couple of summers have seen a new team join them – Paris Saint Germain, following their failure to win the French Ligue 1 title with more money being thrown away at Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marco Verratti, aspiring also towards Champions League success.

Sylvain Armand

The 31 year old French defender has been the longest with the club among the current players, arriving from Nantes, alongside Mario Yepes, in the summer of 2004. Armand cost €3.5 million, already playing more than 350 matches for the club and winning 3 French Cups.

Zoumana Camara

The 33 year-old centre back arrived to PSG from Saint-Etienne in 2007, since then playing close to 200 matches for the club. He cost €6 million.

Peguy Lyuindula

The 33 year old striker arrived alongside Camara in 2007 for €2.5 from Marseille, scoring 19 goals for the club over the years. He didn’t play at all last season and it’s hard to believe he’ll play this season as well.

Guillaume Hoarau

Hoarau arrived in Paris from Le Havre for €0.5 million after starring in the second division. He was labeled as Pauleta’s replacement, scoring 17 goals on his debut season. He has scored 37 goals in 103 matches for the club, but hasn’t played much since the big money has started flowing.

Christophe Jallet

Jallet arrived in Paris from Lorient in 2009 for €2.5 million and has since played 102 matches for the club, keeping his place among the starters despite all of the money and talent coming in with the new owners.

Siaka Tiene

The Ivorian midfielder arrived from Valenciennes for €1 million, since then playing 52 matches for the club.

Nene

The Brazilian Anderson Luiz de Carvalho came to PSG after three seasons playing for Monaco for a fee of €5.5 million, since then scoring 35 goals in 70 matches for the club. He scored 21 goals in the 2011-2012 season, placing him as joint top scorer of Ligue 1.

Mathieu Bodmer

A PSG fan as a boy, it took Bodmer a decade of professional football to reach the club, purchased for €3 million from Lyon after three seasons with the club. He has since appeared 48 times in the league for PSG, scoring six goals.

Milan Biševac

The 28 year old Serbian defender is another player to arrive from Valenciennes, costing €4 million. He played 19 times last season for PSG, scoring one goal.

Jeremy Menez

Menez arrived from AS Roma for €9 million, having a rather successful return season to the French Ligue 1 after some time with Roma, scoring 7 goals and adding 12 assists.

Blaise Matuidi

The defensive midfielder arrived to Paris from Saint-Etienne for €7.5 million, playing in 27 matches for the club. He was also part of France’s Euro 2012 squad.

Diego Lugano

The 31 year old Uruguayan international (68 caps) arrived in Paris after half a decade with Fenerbahce, costing €3 million. He played in only 12 matches last season, losing his place in the lineup due to poor form.

Kevin Gameiro

The 25 year old striker came from Lorient last summer for €11 million after a 22-goal season for the small club. For PSG, he’s scored 11 goals in 32 matches as his debut season production.

Mohamed Sissoko

Sissoko cost €8 million to PSG, arriving after 3.5 seasons with Juventus. The Malian defensive midfielder played in 25 matches for PSG in 2011-2012.

Javier Pastore

Up until the Thiago Silva signing, Pastore was the most expensive signing in French football history, arriving from Palermo for €39.8 million. He enjoyed a fantastic season, scoring 13 goals and adding 6 assists, with the club usually playing as well as Pastore was. It wasn’t enough for a title.

Salvatore Sirigu

Another Palermo player, signed and turning into PSG’s starting goalkeeper, playing in all 38 matches for the club last season. He cost €3.5 million.

Thiago Silva

Arrived from AC Milan for €42 million, but is spending his preseason preparations with the Brazilian Olympic squad in London, going for gold.

Ezequiel Lavezzi

After five seasons and 38 goals for Napoli, Lavezzi made a financial upgrade (if not professional) by moving to PSG for €30 million, signing on a four-year contract.

Alex

The former Chelsea and PSV centre back signed with PSG in the middle of last season, playing 15 matches for the club during the second half of the campaign, costing €5 million.

Maxwell

Another Brazilian who came in the middle of the season (from Barcelona) and always seems to unite and reunite with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, coming for €4 Million and playing 14 matches for the club.

Marco Verratti

PSG beat out quite a few teams for the talents of the 19 year old ‘wonderkid’ from Pescara, paying €10 million for the player often compared to Andrea Pirlo.

Thiago Motta

The Italian international arrived from Inter Milan, a club he has already declared he wishes to end his career with, in the middle of last season, costing €10 million and playing 14 matches for the club.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

The crown jewel and the epitome of PSG’s ambitions, arriving from AC Milan after leading the Serie A in scoring last season (28 goals) for €23 million alongside Thiago Silva, in what is the biggest deceleration and example of the shift of power and money.

Total Cost – €234.3 million. We excluded, obviously, the home grown players and the arrivals through free transfers.

Images: Menez Zlatan