Roman’s First XI versus the Sheikh’s First XI

What would you do with a bottomless transfer kitty? It was a question reserved for fantasy football enthusiasts until Roman Abramovich acquired Chelsea in 2003. Five summers later, Sheikh Mansour got into the game as the new owner of Manchester City. Here’s how each billionaire’s first eleven purchases for their senior squads stack up.

Purple means the transfer was a step up for the player (based on his previous team’s league and league position.)

Grey means the transfer was a step down.

A few points of note:

While Sheikh Mansour’s reign began with a big splash by his signing of Robinho, Roman’s purchase of Glen Johnson indicated a more methodical approach to team building. Although it must be said that Roman could afford that luxury as he already had the spine of his team in place – with Carlo Cudicini, John Terry, and Frank Lampard.

Sheikh Mansour has spent a staggering £174.9m on his Man City XI, a considerable increase on Roman‘s £110m Chelsea XI.

When you’re a billionaire flush with lots of cash to spend on footballers, the tiny little voice in your head must say, “Wayne Bridge looks rather tasty.”

After six years since the Abramovich takeover, Joe Cole is the only initial purchase still with the club. Only three others ever became starters over an extended period of time – Wane Bridge, Damien Duff and Claude Makelele.

It would be fair to say that Roman‘s strategy was a success because Chelsea won the league in his second season. But judging Sheikh Mansour by that measure is a little unfair considering his team has a much greater gap to make up in the table.

Man City‘s list is top-heavy with attackers, while Chelsea’s is dominated by midfielders.

Chelsea lineup includes six from the Premier League, five of whom are from the British Isles; Man City on the other hand has bought nine from the Premier League, including five from the British Isles.

While Chelsea mainly cherry-picked from lower teams, Man City strategically snatched players from its direct rivals including Arsenal, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea itself.

Sheikh Mansour - Throwing cash at the cause