By Esosa Osa
In the last six years, football clubs have spent humongous amounts of money on players. From Paul Pogba’s £90 million move to Manchester United to PSG’s record-breaking and outlandish signing of Neymar from Barcelona for over £200millon, it has been a tale of the highest bidder.
All of these have resulted in some backlash and criticism from legends of the game, coaches resulting in the introduction of stricter financial rules by football governing bodies.
Over the last few years, Pep Guardiola’s Man City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have dominated English football. In the last four seasons Pep’s side have won three PL titles, one FA Cup, three EFL titles and were runners-up in last year’s champions league final.
Meanwhile, Klopp’s side have won one PL, FA Cup, EFL Cup and the Champions league title. They are also the runners-up in the just concluded Champions league.
In these clubs’ successes, money has played a vital role. Since August 2018, Klopp’s Liverpool have spent £322.3m whilst Guardiola’s City spent £467.2m on transfer fees.
As much as this may seem too much, it has been money well spent well. In 2018, Liverpool had a goalkeeping crisis, they signed Alisson Becker from Roma and he’s been one of the best goalkeepers, earning them valuable points in the league whilst winning two golden gloves awards.
The same year, they wanted a defensive midfielder, Fabinho came in and has been excellent. Other notable signings include: Diogo Jota, Thiago Alcantara who has become a fan favourite and Luis Diaz.
Although other signings like Naby Keita and Ibrahim Konate are not yet at their best, Jurgen Klopp has been excellent with signings.
For Man city, within the same time frame, the football world has seen Pep sign players like Riyad Mahrez, Rodri, Cancelo and Ruben Dias who was described by Jose Mourinho as “the best centre back in the world”.
All of them have been excellent players and would forever be in the hearts of City fans for their contributions to the last two Premier League titles. Man City and Liverpool have spent wisely and are deserving of their overflowing silverware cabinet.
