Getty Image / Darren Walsh
It’s not exactly controversial that Manchester City’s success has been built on the large checkbooks of their principal owner, Sheikh Mansour, a member of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates. But, manager Pep Guardiola has a real problem with the way Chelsea has spent under new owner Todd Boehly.
Boehly bought the club from the also-very-rich Roman Abramovich, who was forced to sell the club due to his connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And, he’s invested heavily since taking over.
In his first season at the helm, Chelsea had a net spend of around a massive total of $600 million, with huge fees paid for players like Enzo Fernandez, Raheem Sterling, Wesley Fofana, and Raheem Sterling. And, it hasn’t slowed down this transfer window either. The club has spent over $400 million this summer, adding players such as a record fee in English football for Moses Caicedo, Romeo Lavia, and Christopher Nkunku. They’ve sold off players such as Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, and Mason Mount to the tune of around $275 million, but that’s still a huge net spend of around $125 million.
Boehly, who also owns a large stake in the Los Angeles Dodgers, which he bought as part of Guggenheim Partners back in 2012, has certainly shown levels of commitment not seen in the Premier League in terms of spending. And, legendary coach Pep Guardiola, who just led Man City to a treble, is taking issue with the spending. It is notable that Manchester City is under investigation by the Premier League for financial breaches, though certainly nothing will come of it. The Premier League is likely to not want to upset the owners pumping huge money into the league.
Still, Pep Guardiola insisted that Man City would be under much more scrutiny if they had back-to-back windows like Chelsea has.
Here’s more on what Guardiola said from Reuters.
“We’d be under scrutiny like you couldn’t imagine,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday. “I couldn’t sit here if we spent what Chelsea spent in the last two transfer windows – you would kill me.
“We have to see what happens in the market and if we can do it and to pay what we believe is fair… In the end, we will pay what is fair to do it. Otherwise, we have the academy.”
Some may say this is the pot calling the kettle black. But, it’s important to note that while Man City had high net spends in the early 2010s, under Guardiola they haven’t come close to these kind of numbers.