Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho believes that Chelsea cannot compete financially with Manchester City.

Jose Mourinho believes that since the introduction of the Financial Fair Play rules, Chelsea can no longer compete financially with Manchester City.

Chelsea were keen to sign the Porto centre-half Eliaquim Mangala but were unwilling to jeopardise their compliance with UEFA’s regulations by sanctioning an outlay of around £37m. City, meanwhile, are expected to pursue that deal in the summer.

“If City want to make it impossible, yes it’s impossible because we are not competing outside what is important for us: the fair financial fair play,” Mourinho said. “We are working, thinking and believing that financial fair play is going to be in practice. So there are things that are impossible for us. Financially, no [we can’t compete].”

He referred to Roman Abramrovich’s arrival at Stamford Bridge a decade ago. “Back then it was a free world. There was no financial fair play. If your club was a rich one, your owner a rich one, there were no rules. It was an open situation.”

Asked about Mangala, Mourinho added: “We can’t. We signed [Kurt] Zouma [for £12.5m], who is even younger and a comparable figure.”

Asked about the popularity enjoyed by City among neutral supporters, compared with that of his Chelsea team during his successful first spell in English football, Mourinho said: “In my time we were accused of buying the title, no? Because our owner was Mr Abramovich, just arrived in the country. Maybe now people see City in a different way.

“I don’t envy the fact that they have this kind of protection, or whichever word. It’s the way it is. No problem. Teams with success, people tend not to like, no? But times change. Many things people considered wrong 50 years ago are something very normal now.

“Maybe 10 years ago a huge investment in the club was something people hated, but in this moment it’s something people accept in a different way. If UEFA goes with FFP until the last consequence, maybe in that moment people will realise that some teams are different to other teams. But it’s something I don’t think about at this moment.”

That Mourinho should be looking to occupy the moral high ground when it comes their respective transfer outlays is quite simply preposterous. As you can see in the table below, Chelsea’s spending since Roman Abramovich’s bought the club in 2003 has been a not inconsiderable £814,159,000. In that period, City have been England’s second biggest spenders, forking out £708,420,000 our new players.

# Net Spend 03/04 – 13/14 Bought Gross Sold Net Per Season

1 Chelsea £814,159,000 £236,600,000 £577,559,000 £52,505,364
2 Manchester City £708,420,000 £200,800,000 £507,620,000 £46,147,273
3 Manchester United £447,950,000 £242,850,000 £205,100,000 £18,645,455
4 Liverpool £491,180,000 £293,080,000 £198,100,000 £18,009,091
5 Aston Villa £235,350,000 £112,625,000 £122,725,000 £11,156,818
6 Tottenham £473,600,000 £375,050,000 £98,550,000 £8,959,091
7 Stoke City £104,670,000 £16,095,000 £88,575,000 £8,052,273
8 Sunderland £216,010,000 £132,100,000 £83,910,000 £7,628,182
9 Hull City £60,205,000 £11,725,000 £48,480,000 £4,407,273
10 West Ham £148,080,000 £108,225,000 £39,855,000 £3,623,182
11 Norwich City £60,025,000 £20,610,000 £39,415,000 £3,583,182
12 Southampton £95,665,000 £61,900,000 £33,765,000 £3,069,545
15 Cardiff City £56,795,000 £29,725,000 £27,070,000 £2,460,909
14 West Bromwich Albion £92,505,000 £64,199,000 £28,306,000 £2,573,273
15 Fulham £106,260,000 £68,745,000 £37,515,000 £3,410,455
16 Swansea £50,095,000 £27,325,000 £22,770,000 £2,070,000
17 Arsenal £295,075,000 £277,770,000 £17,305,000 £1,573,182
18 Newcastle £188,000,000 £192,800,000 -£4,800,000 -£436,364
19 Crystal Palace £35,950,000 £28,000,000 £7,950,000 £722,727
20 Everton £154,550,500 £162,416,000 -£7,865,500 -£715,045