There are two ways of looking at things.<\/p>\n
Yes, City are not the biggest net spenders.<\/p>\n
But the data also shows they have spent the second most on players over this period.<\/p>\n
Chelsea<\/a> have spent the most (\u00a31.57bn) to try to catch up with the likes of Manchester City<\/a>. They have sold the most, too, with \u00a3862m worth of talent.<\/p>\n Guardiola comes second on both: \u00a3962.3m spent with \u00a3637.6m brought in from sales. <\/p>\n This underlines how City have been incredibly adept at bringing through players from their academy and selling them for high transfer fees. In fact around \u00a3280m has been recouped<\/a> in this way in the last five years.<\/p>\n Cole Palmer moved to Chelsea<\/a> for \u00a340.9m. James McAtee was signed by Forest in a \u00a322.2m deal. Taylor Harwood-Bellis switched to Southampton for \u00a320m.<\/p>\n Between them they made six Premier League starts for City, yet all three appear as pure profit as club-trained players. <\/p>\n This is not a criticism, though. It is exactly how an academy should operate. <\/p>\n If a player is not to the level of the first team, or has limited opportunities, then they should be sold. Rinse and repeat the process as the years pass.<\/p>\n But it could be construed as creating a slightly misleading picture in terms of net spend on the first team. <\/p>\n Chelsea<\/a> have the same kind of model so it should be no surprise that their finances are along similar lines. It is just to slightly different levels.<\/p>\n Manchester United<\/a> have the worst of all worlds: a high spend, a low return in transfers and disappointing results on the pitch.<\/p>\n The Red Devils are third in spending (\u00a3920.9m) but they have not come close to utilising the value of their academy, with player sales of just \u00a3246.6m. <\/p>\n That places them second in net spend (\u00a3674.3m). <\/p>\n This could also be said of Arsenal<\/a>, who are third in net spend (\u00a3610.1m) but they have the lowest outgoing sales of the top clubs – just \u00a3184.2m.<\/p>\n