A return on big spending is finally in sight for Chelsea

The Blues share similarities in transfer outlays with today's opponents but may just be a step ahead in making it work

- RICHARD JOLLY

Erik ten Hag left Manchester United 14th in one Premier League table and second in another. Had the Dutchman figured in the top two in the standings that mattered most, he would probably be overseeing today's game against Chelsea. Instead, a meeting of the 2008 Champions League finalists represents another summit clash.

Because, over the course of Ten Hag’s reign, United’s transfer outlay topped £600m. It put them behind only one club, albeit one who spent more than twice as much. With Chelsea’s £1.3bn expenditure, it means these squads should have been bolstered to the tune of almost £2bn in two-and-a-half years.

It is an understatement to say it has not all been well spent. It is also pertinent to note that there are times when Ten Hag wanted to spend even more: on a senior striker in the summer of 2023, on buys in two winter windows when his budget was severely limited. It is a subplot that some of Chelsea’s buying – or the facility to buy within PSR, anyway – came courtesy of United, paying them £55m for the homegrown Mason Mount.

There is unlikely to be a reunion with his former club for Mount, whose injury-interrupted United career has produced just seven league starts and a lone goal.