Liverpool v Man City: How Klopp kept up with Guardiola despite a 37% smaller budget

Points won per € spent 

On Sunday Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp will lock horns with one of his greatest adversaries for the last time in the Premier League. The German tactician has faced Manchester City manager more times than any other coach over the course of his career, with both head coaches coming up against one another no less than 29 times across multiple leagues and cup competitions. Sunday’s clash will be the sixteenth time these managerial heavyweights have faced off in the English top-flight and their head-to-head record is remarkably tight. 

To date, Klopp’s Liverpool side have won four out of 15 games in the Premier League since Guardiola took on the reins at Man City. In almost identical fashion, the Etihad side have won five of the showdowns between both clubs in the league. Leaving no less than six clashes that have ended in draws and in many ways come to define the intense sporting rivalry that has existed between both clubs while Klopp and Guardiola have been calling the shots. And while Man City fans will gleefully point to the five league titles Man City have won in Guardiola’s seven-year reign to date, Liverpool fans would undoubtedly argue that their title in 2019/20 means more than most due to the financial advantage their Manchester rivals have had over them. 

Klopp v Guardiola: Money spent in the transfer window 

When we take a look at how much money both clubs have spent since Guardiola and Klopp began their Premier League rivalry, we can quickly see  where Man City have held a notable advantage over the years. For example, as the graphic above shows, the Etihad club have spent €1.5 billion on signing players since the start of the 2016/17 season, while earning €701 million largely from the remarkable sale of players from the club’s tremendous youth academy. As such, Man City’s net spend on transfer fees in this period stands at €808m, which is second only to Manchester United (€1.04b) and Chelsea (€1b) in the same period. 

Liverpool, in stark contrast, have spent 37% less than Man City in the same period on transfers, with their figure standing at €932m. When we then factor in €547m earned from player sales in that period, it puts Liverpool’s net spend on transfer fees at €384m. Which not only comes in at €423.8m less than Man City’s but also places Liverpool 14th among the world’s biggest clubs for net spend in that period. In fact, over the course of the last eight seasons Liverpool have sat top of the Premier League’s table for total net spend on transfer fees in a single season just once (2018/19) and never ranked in the top five outside of that campaign. In stark contrast, Man City have featured in the top five of all English top-flight clubs in five of the last eight seasons and ranked first on two occasions. 

Spending per league point: How Liverpool have punched above their weight

We can use these figures and the club’s corresponding performances in the Premier League to then figure out how efficient Man City and Liverpool have been in the transfer market. When we take each club’s “purchase value” – which is the total amount of money spent on each player in the respective squad – and their points tally each season, we get a graphic like the one above which depicts how much money each club spent per league point won. And as we can see, Liverpool routinely made their money go further than Man City in each of the last eight seasons, with both clubs coming extremely close in the 2017/18 campaign and last season. In total, Man City have averaged €11.1m spent on transfer fees per point won since Guardiola joined the club, but Liverpool have spent just €8.6m per point won in that period. 

While these figures may not mean much to Man City fans or are perhaps skewed in favour of the club that tends to spend less money, they should go some way to highlighting the remarkable job Klopp has done since he locked horns with Guardiola in the Premier League. While the Anfield side may only have one Premier League title to stack alongside Man City’s five, the manner in which Klopp allowed Liverpool to punch above their weight on and off the pitch is exactly why he remains such a fan favourite by the club’s loyal support and why he’ll be fondly remembered as one of their greatest ever managers. 

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