The ongoing summer transfer window is a testament to the inflated football economy, as the game has witnessed a massive influx of cash over the past couple of decades. €100million-plus fees have become the new normal for transfers involving world-class talents. As ten transfers have exceeded that mark in the last five years.

Whether we like it or not, the game of football has increasingly become a business over the years. Which has meant that top clubs need to splurge big money on elite talent. It is no surprise that some of the most successful managers in modern football have spent enormous amounts on player recruitment in the transfer market.

Read Also : Most goals in Serie A since Ronaldo joined Juventus

However, let's take a look at the five highest-spending coaches of 21st Century.

#5 Massimiliano Allegri | €1.06 billion

The first manager to enter the billion-euro spending club is current Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri. Who has signed 96 players since the dawn of the century. The Italian has managed eight different clubs since the 2000s in his 18-year managerial career. Allegri took over the reins of Juventus from Antonio Conte in 2014 and further enhanced the club's reputation in Italian and European football. During his five-year stay at the club, Allegri won five consecutive Scudettos, five domestic doubles and one domestic treble in the 2015-16 season.

Also Read : Football Facts: Football managers who won the treble

#4 Manuel Pellegrini | €1.16 billion

The Argentine has spent an eye-watering €1.16 billion on player recruitment in the 21st century. However, mainly during his three-year stay as a football managers at the Etihad.Manchester City signed Fernandinho for €40 million and Alvaro Negredo for €25 million during Pellegrini's first season in charge. The Cityzens splurged some serious cash during the Argentine's last season at the helm. City signed Kevin de Bruyne for €76 million, followed by Raheem Sterling for €63.7 million and Nicolas Otamendi for €44.5 million. Pellegrini is currently one of the most experienced managers in world football, with a managerial career dating back to 1988. He has managed 10 different clubs since the turn of the century, spending a total of €1.16 billion on 88 different players.

#3 Carlo Ancelotti | €1.37 billion

The current Real Madrid coach is one of the greatest and most successful managers of the 21st century, with 20 titles to his name. Carlo Ancelotti has managed some of Europe's best clubs including AC Milan, Juventus, Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. The 62-year-old began his managerial career as the assistant manager of the Italian national team in 1992. The Italian has managed eight of the biggest clubs in European football in the 21st century. Also is one of three managers to have won the prestigious UEFA Champions League thrice. Ancelotti won Europe's premier club competition twice with AC Milan and once with Real Madrid in the 2013-14 season.

Ancelotti has been at the helm of some of the wealthiest clubs in world football and it's no surprise that he's spent well over a billion euros. The Italian has signed 88 players since 2000 for a combined cost of €1.37 billion.

#2 Pep Guardiola | €1.59 billion

Pep Guardiola has built a reputation of being one of the highest spenders among his peers and finds himself in second place on our list.While many football fans would've expected to see Guardiola at the top of this list, he's spent €17 million less than our first-placed candidate. However, the Spaniard has the highest spend on average, as he has splurged €1.59 billion on just 67 names. Some of Guardiola's most expensive signings include Jack Grealish at €117.50m, Ruben Dias for €68m and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for €69.50m on a player-plus-cash deal.The Spaniard has almost breached the £1billion mark since taking over the reins at Manchester City in 2016. Guardiola is the most successful manager of the 21st century, with 31 titles to his name since 2000s.

Read Also : Football season 2021-22: Where to watch every popular league

#1 Jose Mourinho | €1.76 billion

Jose Mourinho is first on our list with an eye-watering spend of €1.76 billion on player recruitment since the turn of the century. The self-proclaimed Special One has signed more players than anyone on the list and has snapped up over a 100 players in his career. Mourinho has splurged a total of €1.76 billion on 104 players across nine different clubs since 2000. His most expensive signings include Paul Pogba for £94.5 million, Romelu Lukaku for £76.2 million and Fred at £53.1 million. Five of his six most expensive transfers came during his tenure as Manchester United manager.

The Portuguese tactician has won a whopping 25 trophies in the 21st century. Mourinho has managed some of the biggest clubs in world football. That is including Benfica, Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United. He will always be remembered for leading the underdogs, Porto, to the 2003-04 Champions League title.

With Arne Slot closing on winning the Premier League in his debut season as a manager, we present you the football facts of managers to win the Premier League in their debut season. If or when Liverpool win the Premier League 2024-25 title, Arne Slot will become only the fifth manager in Premier League history to achieve the feat. 

Here are the managers to win the Premier League title in their debut season in the league. Please note we have not included Claudio Ranieri's name for winning the title with Leicester City in 2015-16, because he had already managed Chelsea from 2000 to 2004. 

Managers to win Premier League in their debut season

Jose Mourinho | 2004-05

That is why he is the special one. Jose Mourinho came the Chelsea after winning the Champions League with Porto and created history right after that. In the 2004-05 season, Mourinho arrived at Chelsea with a champion mindset and started the season with a bang by beating Manchester United in his first game at the helm. 

With John Terry as the leader of the pack, young Peter Chech between the goals and players like Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, Mourinho took Chelsea to Premier League success with the then-record highest point of a season (95). 

However, that team still holds the Premier League record for conceding the least goals in a season (15) and most clean sheets in a season (25).

Read Also | Top 10 highest scoring midfielders in the 21st century: Football facts

Carlo Ancelotti | 2009-10

One of the greatest football managers of the generation, Carlo Ancelotti arrived in the Premier League and was able to replicate what Mourinho had done in his debut season. 

While Mourinho had made them solid in defence, the team started to fall apart during his latter years. After a few failures by the next managers, Ancelotti took the responsibility to bring the silverware back to Stamford Bridge. 

Ancelotti unleashed a ruthless attacking mindset within the team which resulted in Chelsea creating the records for most goals scored in a Premier League season (103),  most goals scored at home in a season (68), and winning the league with the best goal difference in a season (71).

Didier Drogba scored 29 goals in the Premier League for them. Frank Lampard also showed his class with 22 league goals that season.

Read Also | Managers with the Most Wins in UCL History

Manuel Pellegrini | 2013-14

Pellegrini led Manchester City to their second-ever Premier League in his debut season as the head coach at Etihad Stadium. After the success of Roberto Mancini just two seasons ago, where we saw Sergio Aguero creating history for them, Pellegrini took City back to the top. 

Yaya Toure with 20 goals led them in front as they scored more than 100 goals in a season for the first time in their history. Eden Dzeko with 16 goals and Sergio Aguero with 17 also were the stars for the Blues.

They won the league two points clear of runners-up Liverpool, who had earned 84 points.

Antonio Conte | 2016-17

Roman Ibrahimbovic somehow was always right with appointing coaches at the right time. Antonio Conte joined Chelsea during the mid-season after Guus Hiddink handled the team as interim coach. 

Conte formed a fluid 3-4-2-1 system and with the team already out of the European title race, he had only one thing to focus on. In a season which he called "a Mourinho season”, Chelesea created history by winning 13 straight league games in a row, an equal record for any English top-flight team to enter this special list of football facts.

Conte went on to win the Premier League Manager of the Month Award for October, November and December months. No manager had won the award in three consecutive months before him. 

Chelsea with 93 points won the Premier League as Conte became the third Chelsea coach to win the league in his debut season. 

Manchester City have acquired the signing of talented Brazilian defender Vitor Reis from Brazilian outfit Palmeiras.

Acknowledged as one of the most important emerging talents across the world, 19-year-old Reis has been heavily linked to Arsenal and Chelsea on past occasions.

However, Manchester City have roped him in for a reported fee of €35 million, making the player the most expensive Brazilian center-back ever.

Teenage defender Vitor Reis has joined @ManCity from Palmeiras 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/8Kz7PpYX4Q

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 21, 2025

Although Palmeiras insisted on keeping him until the end of the 2025 Club World Cup, City's football director Hugo Viana played a key role in bringing the player immediately to Etihad.

After signing 22-year-old defender Abdukodir Khusanov from RC Lens, City management believes that Vitor Reis is the missing piece of the puzzle to fix their defensive calamities.

How can Vitor Reis fit himself in City's system under the watch of Pep Guardiola? Sportz Point finds it out.

Is Reis the man to fix City's defensive struggle?

Vitor Reis, who arrives at Etihad having only played 22 games for Palmeiras, is highly unlikely to bring a sudden revamping of Manchester City's defence.

However, the player is said to have "calmness on the ball, defensive versatility, and leadership potential". According to a pundit from the local network SporTV, Reis seems to have "60 years of experience in football"

Palmeiras' U-20 coach Lucas Andrade told the following to BBC Sport:

I believe he will have no trouble adapting to the City system because here in the youth teams he was always exposed to playing under risk, having to be involved in the build-up play while also defending efficiently, even in one-on-one situations,

City work with small squads, so he could gain minutes and be very useful in the season right from the start due to all the maturity and readiness he has to play.

Manchester City has been facing a tumultuous season with a rough phase of consecutive defeats, and they are gradually getting back at it.

However, the exclusion of many players due to long-term injuries has significantly affected Pep Guardiola's tactical executions, as he insisted on signing Vitor Reis along with Khusanov.

PEP 💬 (On our new signings) Welcome to the City family. Really pleased. They're young players so they come for many years. Different types. Khusanov played here in France. [He has] Extraordinary physicality and hopefully he can learn English as soon as possible. Reis is a young… pic.twitter.com/DINAHMB8o4

— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 21, 2025

Vitor Reis is young and has room to improve himself under the watch of Pep Guardiola at such a young age in his career. Although he has played only 22 games under the senior Palmeiras side, he has the experience of playing in last season's Copa Libertadores, maintaining a significant role in the three-man backline system of Palmeiras.

Under the watch of different coaches in the different youth ranks of Palmeiras, Reis showed his leadership ability along with his ability to fit in the full-back roles on both sides and in a four-man backline as well.

This gives him a unique feature to comply with different tactical shifts, which is visibly useful under Pep Guardiola's tactical game plans.

However, this is not only about featuring him in the first team but also commencing the rebuild at the club. Along with Khusanov, Reis can be a serious contender to pair up with veterans such as Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, and youngsters such as Rico Lewis and Josko Gvardiol. 

🇧🇷 Vitor Reis & Khusanov 🇺🇿 pic.twitter.com/YCdHqQrCPf

— Manchester City (@ManCityPT) January 21, 2025

Tactical benefits

The right-footed youngster plays more centrally in the defence, but he also adapts well on both sides. Vitor Reis possesses all the qualities of a solid modern-day defender, such as technical ability, clean tackling, anticipation, interception, good ball-carrying ability, passing excellence with both legs, and dominance in aerial duels.

One particular area where Vitor Reis shines defensively is in his ability in 1v1’s out in wide areas. Reis stays low, focused, and patient in 1v1’s. In terms of aerial duels, Reis won 2.9 aerial duels per 90 minutes in the Brazilian Serie A last season, a figure that would place him in the top 10 among Premier League defenders this campaign.

Reis also possesses a sound sense of anticipation and is continuously alert in the game, much like legendary Brazilian CB Thiago Silva, who excelled specifically in game-reading.

Sampaio, the man behind Palmeiras' academy revolution and one of the most respected executives in Brazilian football, recalled the following to BBC Sport:

Technique, speed, courage, you name it. Tactically, he's a leader, understands the game like few others. And his mental strength is a joke. The kid is complete.

According to Opta Analyst Oliver Hopkins, Reis has the "fundamental technical proficiency" on the ball to adapt quickly to Pep Guardiola's dimensional football.

Hopkins further explores that the 89.2% passing accuracy of Reis is the highest amongst Palmeiras players in 2024, while that rate is a solid 81.5% under pressure.

However, some stats prove that he needs to "develop greater bravery on the ball" to be truly effective within Manchester City's structure. 

Vitor Reis to Man City ✅

But who is he?

◾️Regular starter for Palmeiras despite being just 19
◾️Excellent in the air
◾️Needs to develop bravery in possession

City's squad is the fifth oldest in the league. As they begin their rebuild, we profile their latest signing 📊👇

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) January 21, 2025

Hopkins shows that Reis made just 2.3 progressive passes per 90 last season, which was among the lowest rates of any Palmeiras player, and just 30% of his attempted passes were played forward, ranking him almost last among all Brazilian Serie A center-backs.

How will Reis help in building City's future?

Signing Vitor Reis and Abdukodir Khusanov might be a direct response to their recent run of unexpected results, but both these signings mark the flagship of Man City's long-term squad rebuild plans. 

Now Manchester City has four U-20 defenders in the squad, having a perfect contingent to develop for the future: Abdukodir Khusanov (20 y/o), Vitor Reis (19 y/o), Rico Lewis (19 y/o) and Jahmai Simpson Pusey (19 y/o).

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🔵 | The @ManCity 𝐔𝟐𝟑 𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐋

🇧🇷 Vitor Reis (18, CB)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jahmai Simpson-Pusey (19, CB)

🇺🇿 Abdukodir Khusanov (20, CB)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Rico Lewis (20, RB)

🇭🇷 Josko Gvardiol (22, CB/LB)

5 Top Defenders for the next 10 years 🤩 pic.twitter.com/EsRyPTeVSy

— Rising Stars XI (@RisingStarXI) January 14, 2025

The rebuild will take a significant amount of time, but under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, the players have a unique opportunity to improve and step up as successors to the veteran City defenders. 

With these two signings confirmed during the ongoing January 2025 transfer window, it will hopefully fill the gaps that Pep Guardiola has been trying to address.

UEFA Champions League 2024-25 matchday 7 is knocking on the door, where Paris Saint-Germain is ready to face off against English Premier League giant Manchester City at their home Parc des Princess.

The Ligue 1 giant only has seven points fewer points ahead of the bottom three teams. The French heavyweight is in the 25th position on the UCL league table. 

On the other hand, Manchester City is in the 22nd position ahead of PSG, Guardiola's men have eight points. The match between Paris Saint-Germain vs Manchester City will be crucial for both of them as they both need three points to qualify for the next round. Luis Enriques' lads will have to give their all to get a good result against the Premier League heavyweight.

Even though the City is currently struggling to defend their Premier League title, their poor form over the last several months has created a gap between them and Liverpool.

Despite their poor form and recent performances in the UCL, they are no one to be discarded. This fixture will be a mouth-watering clash, as they both need 3 points and have huge pressure to win back-to-back games in the Champions League.

Kick-off:

 Wednesday, 22nd January 2025 at 8:00 PM UK.

Thursday, 23rd January 2024 at 1:30 PM IST.

Location: Parc des Princess, Paris, France.

Live Telecast:

Sony Sports Network, Sony Liv app for the Indian Viewers.

Amazon Prime Video, Discovery+ for the UK viewers.

Paramount+ for USA viewers.

DStv Now for the Nigerian Viewers.

Match Referees:

• Szymon Marciniak (Poland, Main)
• Tomasz Listkiewicz (Poland, Assistant Referee)
• Adam Kupsik (Poland, Assistant Referee)
• Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Poland, Video Assistant Referee)
• Tiago Martins (Portugal, Assistant Video Assistant Referee)
• Damian Kos (Poland, Fourth Official)

Injury Update and Head-to-Head:

For PSG, Marquinhos and Ibrahim Moye will be Unavailable due to Injury.

John Stones and Rodri will be unavailable due to injury, Kyle Walker is now transferred listed by the Man City management for this reason he remains excluded from the Squad. The rest of the players are fit to play for Man City.

Head-to-Head:

Matches: 7

PSG won: 1

Manchester City won: 4

Draw: 2

Current Form:

Paris Saint-Germain (in all competitions):

• RC Lens (1(4)-1(3) win in penalties, French Cup), 
• Monaco (1-0 win, Trophee des Champion Final),
• St-Etienne (2-1 win, Ligue 1),
• F.C Espaly (4-2win, French Cup), 
• RC Lens (2-1 win, Ligue 1)

Manchester City (in all competitions):

• Leicester City (2-0, win, English Premier League)
• West Ham (4-1, win, English Premier League)
• Salford City (8-0, win, FA Cup 3rd Round)
• Brentford (2-2, Draw, English Premier League)
• Ipswich Town (6-0, win, English Premier League)

Predicted Lineups XI:

Paris Saint-Germain predicted XI:

Gianluigi Donnarumma (GK), Achraf Hakimi, William Pacho, Lucas Hernandez, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, Ousmane Dembele, Goncalo Ramos, Bradley Barcola

Manchester City predicted XI:

Ederson (GK), Matheues Nunes, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Josko Gavardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Savinho, Erling Haaland.

Fantasy XI prediction:

Gianluigi Donnarumma (GK), Achraf Hakimi, Lucas Hernandez, Ruben Dias, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Mateo Kovacic, Kevin De-Bruyne, Ousmane Dembele, Erling Haaland, Bradley Barcola

Jose Mourinho, often considered one of the greatest managers ever in football, has hinted at his desire to take up the mantle of coaching a national side in future before his retirement.

In an interview with Corriere dello Sport, the 61-year-old Portuguese expressed his desire which is the only thing he has not done yet in his illustrious career; managing a national team. 

Mourinho: "Quero jogar um Europeu ou um Mundial e unir um país em torno de uma equipa, como já fiz muitas vezes com os clubes" 🚨

"Quero fazê-lo pelo futebol e pelo que este desporto representa. Vai ser incrível!" 👀

Via: @CorSport pic.twitter.com/7AaFHpSnPT

— Cabine Desportiva (@CabineSport) December 31, 2024

Having managed elite European clubs such as Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Tottenham, and AS Roma; Mourinho is currently in charge as the head coach of the Turkish side Fenerbahce since June 2024. 

"I want to do this for football"

In an exclusive interview with Corriere dello Sport, Mourinho said that he wants to manage a national side as he wants to "do this for football". He stated:

Yes. I want to play a European Championship or a World Cup, to unite a country around its national team in the same way I have managed so many times with clubs and fans. I want to do it for football, for what this sport represents. It will be incredible.

Before joining Fenerbahce, Mourinho managed AS Roma, where he won the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League and lost on penalties against Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League final in the following season. He was sacked in January 2024.

However, Mourinho expressed that he takes more interest in Inter Milan where he won two Scudettos and one Champions League from 2008 to 2010. 

I haven't seen Roma play anymore. Inter, yes!

Mourinho also addressed that he had to refuse Florentino Perez as he decided to re-join Chelsea in 2013. He said the following when questioned if he has any regrets in his career:

If you're referring to professional choices, the no to Florentino. He told me 'Mou, don't leave now, you've done the hard part and the good part is yet to come... I knew it would be like this, but I wanted to return to Chelsea after three years in Spain of great struggles...

Mourinho has won almost every possible trophy during his 23-year-long managerial career. Now, he has set his eyes on an international accolade with a national side.

Previously, in an interview with beIN Sports in 2019, Mourinho showed his interest in coaching a national team. In that interview, he said:

I want to compete in new competitions, I think about the World Cup and the European Championships. For a long time, I have the desire to try such an adventure, because right now, I see myself more with a national team than a new club

Mourinho admits he would love to coach an international side... but not just yet.#beINMourinho #beINAFC #AsianCup2019 pic.twitter.com/52jxgYQnv3

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) January 17, 2019

Earlier in 2024, Mourinho also told renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano that he may coach a national side in future. He affirmed:

To coach a national team is an objective for me. 

Maybe right before World Cup, Euros or the Copa America, African Cup… I can, yes. 

But waiting two years for that, I don’t know!

Maybe one day it will happen.

Hello and welcome to another Premier League 2024-25 LIVE coverage of Sportz Point. This evening, we will cover an all-important clash between Manchester City and Everton in the Premier League 2024-25, which will be played at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

Catch the highlights of the match from the below LIVE blog which we ran during the match.