The new-money derby between Man City and Chelsea will take place once more.
It tells the story of two World Cup champions, among other things. Sunday's match between Manchester City and Chelsea might mark Julian Alvarez's first start since the World Cup championship game. His latest club goal, which was scored for Manchester City against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup in November, came after goals against Poland, Australia, and Croatia in the World Cup semi-final.
Alvarez played with Enzo Fernandez for Argentina in Qatar; possibly the midfielder should have received the trophy for the World Cup's best young player instead of the striker. Each has seen a rapid ascent, and they played together in May when Alvarez scored six goals in River Plate's 8-1 Copa Libertadores defeat of Alianza Lima. Soon after, they departed their country for Europe; if Chelsea had their way, they might be back on the field on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium, albeit on different sides.
Chelsea's attempts to acquire Fernandez have angered Benfica; if they are successful in triggering his release clause, it will cost £105 million even though the Portuguese club only paid £8.8 million for him. In the meantime, City can congratulate themselves on the low price they paid for Alvarez—just £14 million. The enormous sums they may pay for Fernandez, which would deprive Jack Grealish of the title of the biggest buy in English football history, serve to highlight how their paths have diverged, even if Clearlake Capital is within their rights to claim that they were not Chelsea's owners when City sealed the deal for Alvarez. Additionally, it includes money, which is maybe inevitable in the case of these groups.
Chelsea is interested in Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez of Benfica (PA)
The new-money derby before Newcastle's ownership transition was between Chelsea and City. Chelsea currently has a different kind of backing in the form of Clearlake, an American investment fund, whereas some of Chelsea's funds during the Roman Abramovich era had questionable provenance. If Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudryk were included, the number of players they would have purchased in six months would be close to half a billion pounds. Given the low results on the pitch, it is a significant investment.
While this is going on, City, whose ownership by Sheikh Mansour has brought about enormous spending, some of it in ways that have caught the notice of those looking into Financial Fair Play (FFP) guidelines, can at least claim their reduced spending in the summer has been better focused. They have three sure triumphs in the potent Erling Haaland, Alvarez, and Manuel Akanji, a £15 million steal, but Kalvin Phillips has yet to start a game and Pep Guardiola has accused him of being overweight. They have made the wiser purchases.
According to some, Chelsea's new management has a 0% strike rate because no new hire has yet to be successful. This does not imply that they have all failed or will fail, but it does assist explain their current situation, together with a list of incapacitating injuries. A hamstring injury may prevent Raheem Sterling from visiting the Etihad Stadium again after he briefly prospered under Thomas Tuchel and has struggled under Graham Potter, occasionally playing at wing-back. Just six goals have been scored in his 22 Chelsea games. He was acquired by City for £47.5 million after scoring 131 goals and winning 10 major trophies, so it's possible that they got the best of him and still earned a small profit.
Perhaps it is not unexpected that these teams frequently wind up recruiting players from the same talent pool. Benoit Badiashile of Monaco is the left-footed centre back that Chelsea has already signed this month. They had one in mind throughout the summer, but City was hesitant to part with Nathan Ake. Guardiola noted last week that the Dutchman is "the best defender we have in the 18-yard box," and he has been outstanding this year. Marc Cucurella was a target for City a few months back, but they declined to overpay for the Brighton defender. Chelsea spent £62 million after failing to sign Ake, and it appears they overpaid by at least £20 million given Cucurella's awful performance and his responsibility for Thursday's winning goal by Riyad Mahrez. John Stones, who Jose Mourinho wanted to recruit for Chelsea in 2015, was the player of the match that evening. Whether or whether City decided Kalidou Koulibaly was now too old, they didn't compete with Chelsea for his services last year. The Senegalese's experience at Stamford Bridge has been uneven.
Potter and Clearlake are not to blame for the most costly error that helped City in their private duel: Mourinho only gave Kevin De Bruyne two league starts and let him go for Chelsea without scoring. For City, he has struck them five times. Meanwhile, Guardiola's plans were derailed when Maurizio Sarri used his existing friendship with Jorginho to bring a City target to Stamford Bridge in 2018. Back then, City had cause for remorse when Jorginho guided the Chelsea midfield to a victory over City in the Champions League final, which helped him win the Ballon d'Or. Guardiola eventually signed Rodri, a holding midfielder, but he was only a substitute that day.
Rodri, a midfielder for Man City, in action this week against Chelsea (Reuters)
Since then, their careers have taken distinct turns. On Thursday, Jorginho served as Rodri's unused replacement as he performed an odd hybrid role that combined his roles as a centre back and a midfielder. Fernandez might be considered his long-term successor by Chelsea. He would be quite pricey.
However, even though the balance of power between these teams has shifted in favour of City since Antonio Conte while the Italian wrecked Guardiola's first season in England by stealing the title, Chelsea still won that Champions League final and brought home the trophy the Spaniard values most.
Here’s the graphic in full:
Let’s check out some of the reaction from other Chelsea fans to the nine-player list:
