SOPHISTICATED PLAYER RECRUITMENT

CITy and Liverpool have developed sophisticated player acquisition models which have allowed them to make their biggest investments pay well.

There was a time when the £145million Liverpool received for Philippe Coutinho might have been reinvested in a raft of modest players. The Luis suarez windfall in 2014 delivered them Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic, Emre Can, Dejan Lovren, Lallana, Alberto Moreno, Divock Origi and rickie Lambert.

Other clubs have slipped behind. Arsenal are in the early stages of building an acquisition model of their own. Chelsea’s signings have been too often dictated by the managers who come and go. Manchester united are not even off the starting block. It is one thing to reap a share of the £5.1bn Premier League TV deal. It is another to make it pay.