Manchester City exit provides Chelsea with clear £54m incentive

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Manchester City exited the FIFA Club World Cup astatine the last-16 signifier earlier this week

Pep Guardiola looks connected pursuing Man City's Club World Cup exit(Image: PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images)

While Pep Guardiola volition nary uncertainty beryllium pleased not to person to enactment his Manchester City squad done an adjacent much rigorous FIFA Club World Cup schedule, the exit astatine the past 16 signifier didn’t travel without immoderate important drawbacks.

City were beaten 4-3 aft other clip successful the Orlando vigor against Saudi Arabian Premier League broadside Al-Hilal connected Tuesday, with the decision bringing the curtain down connected the club’s information successful a contention which has drawn disapproval for adding to an already packed docket for players.

On the backmost of a gruelling home play that saw them besides person to contend with Champions League football, further workload for his squad earlier pre-season kicked disconnected successful earnest was acknowledged by the City brag erstwhile quizzed connected Jurgen Klopp’s criticisms of the contention past week, though helium remained diplomatic astir the club’s involvement.

He said: “Once we are here, we are proud. Many, galore teams kick astir these competitions due to the fact that they are not here, different they mightiness emotion being here.

“They would person their media and supporters here, and determination would beryllium income to beryllium here, and they would beryllium blessed to beryllium here. Of course, it's not an perfect concern for the manager.

“Would I emotion to person 2 months to hole for adjacent season? Yes. Would I emotion to beryllium refreshed for adjacent season? Yes. But it is what it is. And we merit what we person done successful the past to beryllium here. Once we are here, let's bash our champion possible.”

City’s show successful the league signifier of the competition, wherever they won each 3 of their games and had the payment of coming from the portion that had the biggest TV marketplace pool, saw the nine gain $51.7m (£38m) successful prize money, a sum importantly greater than what would person been achieved during a mean pre-season circuit acknowledgment to $1bn prize cookware enactment up by FIFA arsenic a carrot for teams to instrumentality it seriously.

The wide prize money for winning 7 games connected the rotation comes successful astatine a whopping $125m (£92m), which isn’t excessively acold disconnected from the prize money scooped by Paris Saint-Germain for winning the Champions League past season.

It was entree to currency that lone 1 different Premier League club, Chelsea, could laic assertion to, it besides provided the nine with the accidental to boost their coffers into a caller fiscal year, 1 wherever they volition beryllium looking to footwear connected aft what volition beryllium a dip for 2024/25 owed to the comparative deficiency of occurrence compared to 2023/24, erstwhile City won the Premier League and Champions League.

The decision for City has near immoderate £54m connected the table, and portion the nine tin instrumentality immoderate comfortableness from the important sums earned, the decision to Al-Hilal has opened up a clearer way for Chelsea, who look Brazilian broadside Palmeiras successful the past 16 connected Saturday, to oculus the apical prize.

Such a boost for the westbound London broadside would importantly assistance their PSR presumption for the caller fiscal twelvemonth and embolden them to proceed to prosecute a transportation strategy they consciousness volition determination them person to competitory occurrence and becoming Premier League rubric challengers successful the adjacent future. The further funds they could get their hands connected could indirectly interaction City’s ain pursuit of home occurrence fixed that it puts a nine who had been retired of the representation successful much caller seasons firmly backmost successful it.