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A comparison of Chelsea and Man City's early transfer policy

Chelsea and Manchester City play each other later today with both sides vying for a place in the ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

12.48 14 Apr 2013


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A comparison of Chelsea and Ma...

A comparison of Chelsea and Man City's early transfer policy

Newstalk
Newstalk

12.48 14 Apr 2013


Share this article


Chelsea and Manchester City play each other later today with both sides vying for a place in the FA Cup final.

Chelsea will be aiming for a fourth FA Cup in six years, while City will be looking for a second in three years.

That trophy counts reveals how difficult it is to compare how the two clubs have progressed under their respective sugar daddy owners as they are at different stages of their development.

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But perhaps it would be fair if City of the first three years after Sheikh Mansour took over was compared to the first three seasons of Roman Abramovich’s reign at Stamford Bridge in terms of transfer policy.

The squad Roman Abramovich inherited in the summer of 2003 was one that was already in the Champions League, while City’s 2008 personnel were of the mid-table variety so City required much more investment.

Year One

Abramovich quickly set about reshaping the team in that first season by jettisoning older players like Gianfranco Zola, goalkeeper Ed De Goey and Graeme Le Saux. To fill their places the transfer policy which cost €140 million focused on promising Irish and English youngsters like Damien Duff, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge and Scott Parker, supplementing them with experienced campaigners with Champions League quality like Juan Veron, Claude Makalele, Geremi Njitap and Hernan Crespo. Although these were star names, they were not of the ‘Galactico’ standard but most proved astute buys.

The result was a runner up position in the league under Claudio Ranieri and a place in the Champions League semi-finals.

Unlike Abramovich however, the Abu Dhabi group took over at City on the last day of the 2008 transfer window which meant there was little time to assess options.  The previous regime of Thaksin Shinawatra had already invested cash on the likes of Pablo Zabaleta, ex-City star Shaun Wright-Philips and current captain Vincent Kompany, with the Argentine and Belgian in their early 20s at the time.

However City’s new owners needed to make a statement and in came Robinho from Real Madrid for almost €40 million. They would not be able to spend again until January but when they did, cheques were signed in order to acquire solid campaigners such as Craig Bellamy, Shay Given and Nigel De Jong. Having finished 9th the season before, City stagnated slightly in their first season as a super-rich club, ending up 10th.

Year Two

Chelsea’s biggest signing of the next summer was manager Jose Mourinho but of the new signings off the field like Petr Cech, Didier Drogba, Arjen Robben and Ricardo Carvalho, none were what could be termed as superstars at the time of their arrivals and only the Portuguese had high-level Champions League experience. Yet Drogba, Carvalho and Cech would become indispensable over the next few seasons, while Crespo, Veron, Marcel Desailly and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink were among the older players who were put on the scrapheap. That summer investment pushed Chelsea to a first ever Premier League title.

City on the other hand, used the second season of Middle Eastern rule to raid Arsenal for Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, while Carlos Tevez from rivals Man United was the marquee signing of the summer. They were supplemented by future FA Cup and title winners Gareth Barry and Joleon Lescott. That investment finally pushed City closer to the Top Four, finallys settling for 5th.

Year Three

Chelsea again eschewed bona fide star names the next summer, although bringing in Michael Essien and Shaun Wright-Philipps was done at great expense. But Essien in particular fit in well in a physical and hard-working unit, leading another league title in 2006.

Meanwhile, the third season under Sheikh Mansour at City saw vast sums splashed on the promise of Mario Balotelli and Jerome Boateng and the more established strengths of Yaya Toure and David Silva, a combination that finally lifted City into the Top Four and also secured a first FA Cup in 35 years.

 

Of course City and Chelsea started from different stages but it is interesting to note that Chelsea spent big on players that would not necessarily have been termed superstars at the time of their signings. Didier Drogba and Petr Cech would become world class performers during their spells at Chelsea, while players with Champions League pedigree where specifically target in that first fateful summer.

On the other hand, City perhaps felt the need to make a statement with the signings of superstars like Carlos Tevez and Robinho, although the latter flattered to deceive as did later purchases like Emmanuel Adebayor and Mario Balotelli.

But overall, future trophy winners were purchased by each club during that period although it naturally took Chelsea less time to achieve that.


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