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Manchester City have dominated Manchester United in the Premier League this season and now lead the table by six points.
With Manchester firmly blue after Sunday’s 4-1 dismantling at the Etihad, the Citizens turn their attention toward their most elusive goal — the club’s first Champions League crown.
Despite their domestic dominance — winning three of the last four EPL titles and finishing at least top-three in 10 of the last 11 seasons — City haven’t translated extravagant spending into a European championship.
- Their $159 million in 2021-22 spending is second only to Arsenal’s $184.2 million.
- Jack Grealish’s $129.3 million transfer fee was the most expensive of 2021.
- It’s the seventh-highest fee of all time, the highest ever for an English player, and highest ever paid by an English club.
- City have paid eight of the top 50 most expensive transfer fees of all time — the most of any club on that list.
Man City even shelled out $24.5 million for Pep Guardiola, reportedly the world’s highest-paid manager.
Even if City have overspent, they’re arguably getting excellent value for their money — the club have an estimated $1.09 billion combined player market value — the current highest in the world, per Transfermarkt.
With a 5-0 aggregate lead heading into Wednesday’s Round of 16 second leg against Sporting, their quarterfinal place is essentially locked — and they’re the odds-on favorites to win it all (+225*).
