Manchester City

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No club in European football has spent more on transfers than Chelsea since 2015.

That's according to data delivered by the highly-respected CIES Football Observatory., external

In its monthly report, the organisation says the Blues have spent 2.78bn euros since 2015 - around £2.35bn. Manchester City are second on the list, on 1.96bn euros, with Manchester United third on 1.95bn euros (around £1.65bn).

The figures form part of a spending-heavy culture in the Premier League. England's top flight has committed over 23bn euros (£19.42bn) to transfers since 2014, with Italy's Serie A second on 10.84bn euros (£9.1bn).

The Premier League's net spend is over 11.5bn euros - around £9.7bn, a stark contrast to Portugal's Primeira Liga, which has made a net profit of over 2.34bn euros since 2015.

Drilling into the data more, Manchester United have made a net spend in every year across the 10-year period. Benfica, by contrast have made a net profit in nine of the 10 seasons on transfers. United's consistent buying means they are the club with the biggest net spend in Europe since 2015 as Chelsea have recouped over half of their spend through player sales.

In its report, the CIES says: "From a club point of view, Chelsea stands out clearly with €2.78 billion invested on transfer fees over the last decade, 42% more than the second biggest spenders: Manchester City and Manchester United. The latter club has the most negative net transfer spending (€1.30 billion), while SL Benfica has the most positive one (+€816 million)."

The Premier League's summer transfer window saw clubs spend almost £2bn in all.

Data from Footballtransfers.com, external shows the biggest net spend by a club - that’s all the money spent minus all that came in from sales - was Brighton.

The Seagulls had a net spend of £153.5m.

On the flip side, the club who generated the biggest net summer profit on transfers was Manchester City, who made £115.8m, thanks in large part to the sale of Julian Alvarez.

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland is closer to agreeing a new contract which will make him their highest-paid player. (Marca - in Spanish), external

Haaland's new deal is expected to contain a release clause which will be within reach for Real Madrid if they want to sign him in the future. (Mail), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Sunday's full gossip column

Midfielder Mateo Kovacic is considering his future at Manchester City following the return of Ilkay Gundogan in the same position. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Saturday's full gossip column

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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Erling Haaland might just be granted a new contract if he wants one. Once again, this time against West Ham, he looked like an adult playing against an under-14s side.

He is a player you should make a point of seeing play in the flesh at least once in your life.

Some sports stars just look different to all the others when you see them perform live - like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods or Usain Bolt when at their prime.

Those guys were the best in their businesses, and Haaland is merely the best at one part of his sport - scoring goals. Even so, he is of a completely different order than anyone in that role when he is fully fit, as he is right now.

Here is the worrying thing: I think he can get even better.

Just watch him when he gets angry, his power and pace goes up yet another gear.

Here is some advice to defenders - don't get him angry. Just like The Hulk, you wouldn't like him when he is angry.

Pat Nevin was writing for the BBC Football Extra Newsletter

The joy and despair of football.

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Just the despair.

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Some things you wait for.

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And others never take long to arrive.

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There are awkward moments.

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There are planned moments.

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Chaotic moments.

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Sometimes there are moments of genius.

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And, occasionally, the moment just calls for romance.

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Manchester City midfielder Rodri is one of the 30 nominees for the 2024 Ballon d'Or award.

French football journalist Julien Laurens, speaking on the BBC's Euro Leagues podcast, said: "Rodri has been the best player in the world for two seasons now. He's been outstanding in his position.

"He's not a goalscorer, he doesn't do nutmegs and skills and dribbling. But in his position, he is maybe the most intelligent player in the world right now.

"He's been super decisive - he scored in the Champions League final the season before.

"Overall, if you look at the past two years, Rodri has been outstanding for club and country, so for me, he deserves the Ballon d'Or more than anyone else."

Listen to the podcast episode on BBC Sounds

Al-Nassr are targeting Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic in the January transfer window, with a pay package worth more than £750,000 a week. (CBS Sports), external

Want more transfer news? Read Friday's full gossip column

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We asked you for your views on how Manchester City have started the season - and where you thought they might finish.

City, who have won their first three league matches, were tipped to win the Premier League title by 83% of respondents.

Here are some of your comments:

Chris: Champions again, five on the trot.

Michael: Excellent start to the season and more so without Rodri, Kyle Walker and also Phil Foden (against West Ham). Mateo Kovacic has put in really standout performances already and I am confident City will be top once again in May next year.

GT: City looks incredibly hungry and clinical this year. Scary to consider no Rodri or Foden yet.

Kurt: A very solid start. Rico Lewis and Erling Haaland in particular look brilliant and there's still Foden and Rodri to come back. Just hoping that the off-pitch situation doesn't distract us but I don't think it will. As for new signings, Savinho looks exciting and Ilkay Gundogan's return has made my summer.

Scott: Incredible business by Txiki Begiristain and co. I was sad to see Julian Alvarez leave but he had won all he could at City. Gundogan returned on a free, Savinho was a matter of time and development and the first games have been excellent. Some good loans concluded allowing for development of players. Kovacic has settled in and for the first time in a while, no Rodri feels OK.

Dan Roan, Simon Stone and Tom Mallows
BBC Sport

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Leicester City's successful appeal against an alleged breach of Premier League financial rules means they are set to avoid any punishment or points deduction - but what does this mean for the rest of the Premier League?

In February 2023, the Premier League charged Manchester City with 115 alleged breaches of its financial rules between 2009 and 2018 and referred the club to an independent commission.

BBC Sport understands the hearing is set to start in September with the result possibly known early next year.

City have denied all charges and say they are supported by a "body of irrefutable evidence".

Premier League chief Richard Masters told BBC Sport in August that it was "time to resolve" City's long-running case - and added on profit and sustainability rules (PSR) more generally that "we want to move to a new system that people have confidence in and can comply with".

With Leicester arguing that their successful appeal was based on “flaws” in the Premier League rules, Manchester City may be encouraged by this outcome, but it is uncertain how relevant this very different case is to theirs. City obviously cannot rely on what may appear to be something of a technicality over the date of relegation. Nor is their case about a PSR overspend.

However, this was still a significant defeat for the Premier League and City's illustrious legal team will certainly scrutinise the wording of the rules to see if they are being correctly applied.

Read the full analysis of Leicester's PSR case

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Manchester City full-back Kyle Walker has credited manager Pep Guardiola with helping him "fall in love with football more" during his time playing for the club.

Guardiola signed Walker from Tottenham in 2017, during which time City have won numerous honours and the England international has also been made captain.

Speaking on his You'll Never Beat Kyle Walker podcast on BBC Sounds, Walker said of Guardiola: "He's unbelievable. My game over the past seven years has come on leaps and bounds. I'm probably not as marauding a full-back as I was at Tottenham, but I probably fell in love with the game more by working under Pep.

"He's that obsessed with the game of football, the chess pieces and how things are going to be moved. I probably have become more into football at 27 when I signed for City than I ever was prior to that."

Asked which players within the current City squad could become future managers, Walker said: "Kevin [de Bruyne] automatically earns the respect from the lads. He knows the game of football and sees things that we don't really see quickly enough to see before we get tackled.

"I'd probably say Kevin, Bernardo [Silva], Rodri and Ruben [Dias] are [future] managers."

Listen to more from Walker on BBC Sounds

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Rico Lewis is pleased to have taken his opportunity to impress in the early weeks of the season for Manchester City, with his performances earning him a recall to the England squad.

The versatile 19-year-old played in City's Community Shield win over Manchester United and has started all three Premier League games so far this season.

Lewis, who won his only England cap to date in November 2023, was not selected for Euro 2024 by Gareth Southgate but he has returned to the squad under interim England boss Lee Carsley for the upcoming Nations League matches against Republic of Ireland and Finland.

"I knew that England were doing really well in the Euros," Lewis said. "That meant that the lads like John [Stones] and Kyle [Walker] would be coming late and that would give me opportunities on the tour and then for the first few games.

"I had to be on it and I had to be fit so I could play. Just focus and every time I have the chance to play, just take it. I just want to continue focusing as much as I can."

Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri, 28, is wanted by Real Madrid, who plan to make a move for him at the end of the season. (AS - in Spanish, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Manchester City’s Carabao Cup tie with Watford has been confirmed for Tuesday, 24 September (1945 BST).

This means City will have to play two games in three days as their high-profile Premier League encounter with Arsenal is on 22 September.

Under normal circumstances, City would have played the match on Wednesday.

However, on the same night, Manchester United play Dutch side FC Twente at Old Trafford in their opening Europa League game.

Having that fixture – when many visiting fans are expected – on the same night as a City game was deemed a security risk.

This season, Uefa has expanded its European competitions, with each being granted an ‘exclusive’ week. This has created problems for the EFL, who had to seed the third round draw to prevent teams playing in the Europa League being paired with clubs in the Champions League as there would have been nowhere for the fixture to go.

The dust has settled on the transfer window, the Premier League is well and truly back, and we are into the first international break of 2024-25.

So we want you to predict where Manchester City will finish in the Premier League this season - thinking about their start to the campaign and summer transfer business.

Submit your prediction here

And also, please tell us what is the one thing - good or bad - you have learned about City so far in the campaign?

Let us know your thoughts here, external

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Former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas says players like Erling Haaland give team-mates belief "something special" will happen.

The 24-year-old striker scored his second consecutive hat-trick against West Ham at the weekend, his eighth three-goal haul in the Premier League. That leaves him just four behind the record of former City forward Sergio Aguero.

"For me, he is the number one striker in the world and, on his day, he can destroy any team in the world," Fabregas said on the Planet Premier League podcast.

"Before games in my career, there were only two players that I really felt, 'OK, these guys are gonna make a difference - they're gonna change the game or something is going to happen'. Even if we were losing or were struggling during the game: Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi.

"I'm sure Real Madrid players felt the same with Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester City with Aguero, Manchester United with Van Nistelrooy, but in my career, my feeling when I had these two players in front of me in the tunnel, I knew that 90% of the games they were going to do something special that will make us win the game.

"To have this sensation as a big club is really important. I'm sure that City players will have this feeling when they see Haaland stepping onto that field with them."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

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Barcelona president Joan Laporta says Ilkay Gundogan "decided that he wanted to leave" and his move was not due to financial pressures at the club.

The 33-year-old returned to Manchester City just a year after leaving, and it was reported to be due to ongoing high costs that were preventing the Catalan giants registering a number of new signings.

La Liga's rules are based on the 1:1 principle, which means the amount clubs can spend on new players (including transfers, wages and agent fees) is equivalent to revenue generated.

But Laporta told a press conference that was not the reason for Gundogan's departure.

The Germany international signed an initial one-year deal with the option of a further 12 months.

"After a meeting with [new coach] Hansi Flick and assessing the situation of the squad, he decided that he wanted to leave," said the club's president.

"The signing of Dani Olmo [meant] he was a player who performs a similar function to that of Gundo.

"I have heard that it is a financial decision, but no. It's a sporting decision, by Barca, by Gundogan and by City because he has been brought back.

"At the time Gundo came without a transfer fee and it was only fair that there was no transfer fee [for City].

"It has had an economic impact, but the reason has been a sporting decision."

Freddie Pye
Fan writer

He has done it again - Pep Guardiola has masterminded a tactical reshuffle, answering his most difficult challenge yet.

Some may argue no team has appeared more dependent on one player in midfield as Manchester City, who fell to defeat in all of their first four matches without Rodri last season.

With Rodri ruled out for the opening phase of this campaign Guardiola made it clear his side would start "late" in terms of results.

"We will arrive late but not just against Manchester United, Chelsea and Ipswich too. We will be late," he insisted.

Things could not have been more different, cruising to victory in their opening games, with the latest being a 3-1 triumph over Julen Lopetegui's exciting West Ham.

But how has Guardiola done it? The answer may not lie entirely on the head of the Etihad tactician. It has also taken fine work from three members of the squad.

Rico Lewis is a name on the lips of many, holding the right-back role throughout the opening four competitive fixtures.

But his ability to transition from right-back into an intelligent defensive midfield support role is unmatched. His London Stadium performance showcased an ability to support in advanced areas, claiming his first goal contribution of the season when supplying Erling Haaland for his second.

Bernardo Silva was a player some thought may not still be here heading into another season. The Portugal international has showcased professionalism once again, performing to the highest standard despite desires for warmer shores. His legs are integral when without Rodri, creating a second defensive unit ahead of the deeper midfield duo, allowing Kevin de Bruyne to roam free.

And completing the three-point plan - Mateo Kovacic.

Not just an exceptionally gifted footballer, but also one committed to working hard. The Croatia international has made no secret of wanting to learn the challenges of Rodri's role, spending time off the pitch watching videos on positioning, passes and reading the game from deep.

Rodri can now be afforded rest this season and with matches coming thick and fast, Guardiola's trio working in this flexible system may be the answer.

A shoutout to Txiki Begiristain, too. Calls for big signings throughout summer, but deciding not to has so far been proven right. I, for one, am not shocked. A shrewd operator in the football business, and one who gets very little wrong.

The moral of this story? Trust in Pep. Trust in Txiki.

Find more from Freddie Pye at City Xtra, external