EVERYBODY’S CHASING CHELSEA
City, Man U triggered tidal wave of offseason spending in desperate effort to beat the Blues
The way Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho have been spending, the Premier League trophy should be returning to Manchester in May.
In an offseason that has seen more than $1.3 billion invested in players, Manchester rivals City and United have accounted for more than a third of that spending.
It was the inevitable reaction to feeble title challenges that saw Guardiola’s City finish 15 points behind the victorious Chelsea side in third place and Mourinho’s United drift over the line nine points further back.
Finishing his first season in English soccer without a single title was an unusual feeling for Guardiola, who was a serial collector of trophies at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
If the overhaul of the squad, costing more than $240 million, doesn’t deliver silverware there will be further uncomfortable questions for the Spaniard.
Guardiola has started rebuilding from the back by recruiting fullbacks Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker for around $60 million apiece.
Signing Walker was particularly eye-catching. The England rightback forced his way out of a Tottenham side that finished ahead of City in second place.
With its rigid pay structure, Tottenham lacks the will to break its budget to offer big salaries. Or, in this transfer window, spend anything yet on reinforcing a squad that delivered Tottenham’s highest league finish in more than 50 years.
Rather than being a platform to build on to challenge for a first title since 1961, Tottenham’s ownership appears more focused on building its new stadium.
Still, the north London club has kept its key talent — notably Harry Kane and Dele Alli who scored 47 league goals between them last season.
In search of goals, Manchester United turned to last season’s second-highest scorer. Striker Romelu Lukaku cost at least $88 million, while Mourinho offloaded captain Wayne Rooney in the opposite direction to Everton.
Lukaku isn’t the only player being reunited with Mourinho, who also convinced former club Chelsea to sell Nemanja Matic to United.
A fee of $50 million proved too substantial for Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to turn down, even if manager Antonio Conte wanted to retain the midfielder he still called “very important for our team.”
“Sometimes you must accept this crazy transfer market,” Conte told British broadcaster Sky Sports on Wednesday. “Sometimes you must accept different decisions. He is a great loss for us.”
The danger for Chelsea is that the harmonious atmosphere re-established by Conte after Mourinho’s bitter departure is eroded. Although Conte has brought in striker Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, he is finding it hard to sell another forward — Diego Costa.
Chelsea wanted to bring Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge, a transfer thwarted by Mourinho.
Despite finishing sixth in the league, the Portuguese coach completed his first season at United with two trophies. While the League Cup is little regarded, the Europa League provided a ticket into the Champions League — and probably the signature of Lukaku.
It was one of the costliest moves in Europe during a summer transfer window that has seen United midfielder Paul Pogba replaced as the most expensive player in soccer by Neymar, who joined Paris SaintGermain for $264 million.
“I don’t think we’re going to see that replicated (in England),” Premier League chairman Richard Scudamore said. “And, in some ways, I’m glad it’s not the Premier League holding that particular record.”
Yet, there will definitely be a trickle-down effect, particularly at Liverpool.
Liverpool now appears to have a fight on its hands to retain attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho as Barcelona looks to reinvest some its Neymar windfall in another Brazilian.
Losing such a key player would hamper Juergen Klopp’s hopes of using his second full season at Anfield to show his upbeat demeanor can be matched with silverware.
Struggling Arsenal
Arsenal also embarks on a new campaign uncertain whether it will hold onto a key member of its squad. Striker Alexis Sanchez, who has been ruled out of Friday’s opener against Leicester, is in the final season of his Gunners contract.
Losing Sanchez would jeopardize Arsenal’s attempt to rejoin the elite. For the first time in 20 years, Arsene Wenger’s side will be missing from the Champions League as a consequence of its fifth-place Premier League finish.
But Arsenal has already reinforced its attacking options by signing Alexandre Lacazette and brought in burly defender Sead Kolasinac.
Wenger is also looking to trim players surplus to requirements — an issue he discussed with fellow managers at a meeting this week.
“It looks like there are many, many players everywhere, and a bit of congestion at the moment everywhere,” Wenger said.
The financial power of the Premier League means that promotion is usually accompanied by a spending spree to try to stay in the world’s richest soccer competition.
Brighton and Huddersfield, both playing in the top-flight for the first time in the post1992 Premier League era, have broken their club transfer records.
Netherlands midfielder Davy Propper moved to southcoast club Brighton for around $12 million from PSV Eindhoven. Huddersfield spent a similar amount on bringing striker Steve Mounie in from Montpellier — the third time the northern club broke its transfer record in the off-season.
Brighton and Huddersfield were promoted alongside a Newcastle side making an instant return to the Premier League. Whether Newcastle is instantly relegated seems to depend on whether manager Rafa Benitez will be granted the funds he craves.
“I am not happy,” said Benitez, a Champions League winner with Liverpool. “But at the same time for me it’s a challenge.”