Chelsea made the biggest net profit of any club in the world in the last two transfer windows, according to newly-released data.

The London club, who served a transfer ban last summer after breaching FIFA rules on the recruitment of young players, spent just over £38million on Mateo Kovacic but made £173.7m in sales.

The CIES Football Observatory found that at the other end of the scale Real Madrid - who paid Chelsea an initial reported £85m plus add-ons for Belgian playmaker Eden Hazard last summer - were £153m in negative balance when it came to transfers.

Frank Lampard's Chelsea made biggest net profit of any club in world in the last two windows

Astonishingly, Premier League new boys Aston Villa were second to Real, spending £146m and earning just £2.5m, for a balance of £143.5m

Premier League clubs had the biggest net deficit of Europe's big five leagues, spending £715m more than they earned. Only Ligue 1 showed an overall profit, of £90m.

Chelsea were the only Premier League team in the top 10 in terms of net earners, something which should help them post improved financial figures for 2019-20 after recording a loss of £96m for the year ending June 30, 2019.

Real Madrid paid Chelsea an initial reported £85m plus add-ons for playmaker Eden Hazard

Benfica, who sold Joao Felix to Atletico Madrid last summer for a reported £113m, were in second place with a net profit of £141m, while Ajax were £116m up in third after selling star youngsters Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong to Juventus and Barcelona respectively.

Villa were joined in the top 10 in terms of negative balance by Manchester United and Tottenham in fourth and fifth respectively, who spent £128m and £119m more than they earned.

Arsenal were in 11th place, spending £72m more than they earned.

Premier League new boys Aston Villa were second biggest spenders to Real, spending £146m - Villa signed Tyrone Mings (second left) for £26.5m last July

TRANSFER SPENDING IN LAST TWO WINDOWS - POSITIVE BALANCES Club Spent Earned Net profit Chelsea £38m £211m £173.7m Benfica £54m £195m £141m Ajax £54m £170m £116m Sporting £25m £102m £78m RB Salzburg £24m £87m £64m Lille £83m £142m £58m Hoffenheim £55m £113m £58m Sampdoria £36m £84m £48m PSV Eindhoven £36m £83m £47m Empoli £17m £59m £42m