Chelsea vs Manchester City: which team has spent the most money on transfers in recent years?

If you were to ask most soccer fans to name England’s “biggest” clubs, neither Chelsea nor Manchester City would have entered the conversation until recently. The nouveau-riche duo, who meet at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League on Sunday, are perhaps the two most obvious beneficiaries of the huge influx of money into elite-level soccer, with the vast majority of their historical success coming in recent years.

Spending money to win trophies is, of course, nothing new in soccer or indeed sport, but The Blues and Sky Blues have done it more - and in City’s case better - than most of late.

Chelsea world soccer’s biggest spenders since 2014

A study carried out by Swiss-bases research institute CIES Football Observatory after the close of the summer 2023 transfer window revealed that since the summer of 2014, no club in world soccer had spent more money on new players than Chelsea.

The report showed the Londoners had spent an incredible €2.6 billion ($3.2 billion) on permanent and loan signings during the aforementioned nine-year period, with that number heavily impacted by their transfer policy since BlueCo, a consortium led by Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly, took over the club in May 2022.

How much have Chelsea spent under Todd Boehly?

In the last three transfers windows, Chelsea have spent well over $1 billion on new players, including a reported £106.8 million ($130.5 million) on Argentine World Cup-winner Enzo Fernández and £100 million ($122.2 million) on Brighton’s Moisés Caicedo.

It’s probably not an exaggeration to say The Blues haven’t had too much value for money since Boehly got involved, finishing 12th at the end of his first season in charge, two places worse off than where they currently sit in the Premier League standings. Chelsea haven’t won a league title since José Mourinho was manager in 2016-17, although they did win the Champions League in 2020-21 under Thomas Tuchel (as well as the 2015 League Cup and the 2018 FA Cup).

How much have Manchester City spent since 2014?

To put their spending into perspective, since the summer of 2014 they have spent almost €700 million ($750 million) more than the club second on the list - Manchester United. Interestingly enough, The Red Devils have spent almost the exact same amount as local rivals City, who are third, although the two can hardly be compared when it comes to recent success.

The Sky Blues’ €1.95 billion ($2.09 billion) spent has led to five Premier League titles, five League Cups, two FA Cups and a Champions League in the last nine years. While Chelsea’s list of most expensive transfers includes a number of players who underperformed and were ultimately moved on (Romelu Lukaku, Kepa, Kai Havertz, Álvaro Morata, Christian Pulisic), many of City’s biggest signings have played key roles in their recent success (Rodri, Rubén Dias, Riyadh Mahrez, João Cancelo, Kevin De Bruyne).

City spend (much) smarter than Chelsea

Incredibly enough, Erling Haaland isn’t even inside their top 10 most expensive signings, with Chelsea paying more than twice as much to sign Fernández as City did the Norwegian. The two will take to the same field at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, where many expect to see more proof that while Chelsea have spent bigger, Pep Guardiola’s side have spent smarter.