Rafael Benitez was asked recently about the key factor separating Liverpool from the almighty Manchester United, and he responded, "About £100 million." That comment, however rhetorical or sardonic it may have been, has sparked yet another feud between him and Sir Alex Ferguson as we enter the business end of the Premier League season.
The Red Devils manager's reply was swift enough. Clearly rankled by Rafa's remarks, the Scot had the club's number crunchers calculate whether or not the Spaniard was onto something. And he was quite satisfied with the findings.
"I was amazed at that one. I got some of the people in the sports technology department to check that out,” Ferguson said. "He's well ahead of us in spending in the last five years. He said our spending power is more than theirs but he has spent £24million more than we have”.
The press has offered a startling variety of figures in response to this debate, with some sources claiming that United have spent comfortably more while others indicate that Liverpool have in fact splashed more cash since Benitez's arrival.
The confusion was ended by getting out the calculators and tallying up one by one every transfer each club has completed over the past five years. Only the straight-up, basic fees were considered - no toying around with signing-on costs, agent's stakes, player wages and such - and the figures make for interesting reading.
Initially, the sums seemed remarkably tight - literally a matter of a few hundred thousand pounds separating the two teams' gross expenditure. But upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the observers had overlooked one rather important deal.
The thing is, most 'official' or rigidly correct lists of transfers had a certain Javier Mascherano's switch to Anfield marked down as a freebie, due to the complicated nature of his contract at West Ham United. He actually cost around £18.6m, and it is this deal which tipped the scales.
According to calculations, Liverpool have spent a sizeable £190m on players (over £195m with known add-ons) since Benitez succeeded Gerard Houllier - and that figure doesn't include the purchase of Djibril Cisse, whose move from Auxerre was agreed just prior to Rafa's appointment.
Man United, on the other hand, have forked out around about £172m in basic transfer costs, with add-ons potentially taking that figure to the £180m mark. So much for the "£100 million" that Benitez believes is the reason for the gulf in quality between the two teams.
In terms of NET expenditure (i.e. the total when player sales are taken into consideration), the numbers are much, much closer. While 'Pool have recouped £102m or more, the Mancs have got back around £82m, leaving the NET sums at £88m and £90m respectively.
Not including Bosman transfers or free youth-signings in the mould of Giuseppe Rossi and the Da Silva twins, Manchester United have bought 18 players since the summer of 2004. Liverpool, however, have paid for 33. The difference is, Fergie has been allowed splurge on top-shelf sweets year after year, while Rafa has often had to settle for a big bag of boiled lollies.
Of course, these can only ever be ball-park figures, but the exact amount is unimportant. What matters is that Benitez clearly hasn't been outspent by Ferguson, at least nowhere near as drastically as he thinks he has. In terms of funds available during the course of his Merseyside tenure, the ex-Valencia boss has been allowed just as much pocket money as his North West neighbour.
Let’s have a look at the spending patterns of some other clubs. The source is http://transferleague.co.uk/index.php.
The table below represents the clubs per season net spends on purchasing players from the beginning of the premiership season 1992/93 to date. Purchases is the total spent on buying players, sold is the total received from the sale players and net is Purchased minus sold giving a total of the money spend on players . The per season column gives an average of the money spend in each season in the corresponding period.
Source: http://transferleague.co.uk/index.php
The table below represents the clubs net spend per season from the beginning of season 04/05 to date. This was the season that Rafa’ Benitez became Liverpool manager. Purchases is the total spent on buying players, sold is the total received from the sale of players and Net equals the Purchased minus Sold giving a total of the money spend on players.
The per season column gives an average of the money spend in each season in the corresponding period season 04/05 to date.
Source: http://transferleague.co.uk/index.php
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