Gary James
Well-Known Member
Transfer fees reported in the media are often wrong. Selling clubs and buying clubs will often release different figures for a variety of reasons (tax, plus sometimes you want to give the impression you've spent more than you actually have; plus there are all sorts of additional appearance based fees/international fees that can come in years later).
Because of this I think it's fair to say that sources in the media can only be approximates unless both clubs publicly agree the figure and that is what is ultimately reported in their accounts. When City bought Steve Daley I remember the exact figure paid by City, including tax, appearing in the match prog, but even then Wolves held a different view. City boasted about how much they'd spent and how much they'd broken the tranfer record.
As for the British record and comparisons between City & Utd - in included a detailed list of everytime the Manc clubs broke the British record either as a buyer or as a seller in the 2nd edition of "Manchester A Football History" (get it out of the library - it'll be worth it) as I was sick of these sort of comparisons being based on modern day websites that only have half the story.
I went back, season by season, and tried to determine what the record was and what transfers broke it. The conclusion I reached based on information available in City/Utd literature, websites, 'independent' material, newspapers and so on is that....
City broke the transfer record 4 times between 1900 and Dec 2010 and United broke it 5 times. The players - Thornley (1904), Barnes (1914), Daley (1979) & Robinho (2008) & Law (62), Robson (81), Cole (95), Veron (01) & Ferdinand (02).
These were records involving English clubs, but there were additional records such as Denis Law arriving at City in 1959-60 which was a domestic record (but in 1957 Charles had been sold by Leeds to Juventus for £65,000 so it wasn't viewed as the record involving a British club).
Having said all of this, the transfer record itself doesn't mean a team is high spending, it merely means it's spent a large amount on one player. So, I researched another angle.
I produced a table of every purchase by City or United with a value of £7m or more. The figures came from reliable annuals like the NotW annual, Rothmans/Sky Sports and I started my search in the early 90s.
The first player bought by either Manchester club for a fee of £7m or more was Andy Cole in 1995.
From 1995 (including Cole) to Dec 2010 United signed 21 players for £7m or more and City signed 22. However, between 1995 and start of July 2007 City had only signed 1 player (Anelka) for £7m or more while Utd had signed 14 (3 of which had cost £27m or more by 2004!)
For me that final stat is the most significant. At a time when most football clubs could spend a few million, United were able to buy 14 players to City's 1 valuable asset.
Because of this I think it's fair to say that sources in the media can only be approximates unless both clubs publicly agree the figure and that is what is ultimately reported in their accounts. When City bought Steve Daley I remember the exact figure paid by City, including tax, appearing in the match prog, but even then Wolves held a different view. City boasted about how much they'd spent and how much they'd broken the tranfer record.
As for the British record and comparisons between City & Utd - in included a detailed list of everytime the Manc clubs broke the British record either as a buyer or as a seller in the 2nd edition of "Manchester A Football History" (get it out of the library - it'll be worth it) as I was sick of these sort of comparisons being based on modern day websites that only have half the story.
I went back, season by season, and tried to determine what the record was and what transfers broke it. The conclusion I reached based on information available in City/Utd literature, websites, 'independent' material, newspapers and so on is that....
City broke the transfer record 4 times between 1900 and Dec 2010 and United broke it 5 times. The players - Thornley (1904), Barnes (1914), Daley (1979) & Robinho (2008) & Law (62), Robson (81), Cole (95), Veron (01) & Ferdinand (02).
These were records involving English clubs, but there were additional records such as Denis Law arriving at City in 1959-60 which was a domestic record (but in 1957 Charles had been sold by Leeds to Juventus for £65,000 so it wasn't viewed as the record involving a British club).
Having said all of this, the transfer record itself doesn't mean a team is high spending, it merely means it's spent a large amount on one player. So, I researched another angle.
I produced a table of every purchase by City or United with a value of £7m or more. The figures came from reliable annuals like the NotW annual, Rothmans/Sky Sports and I started my search in the early 90s.
The first player bought by either Manchester club for a fee of £7m or more was Andy Cole in 1995.
From 1995 (including Cole) to Dec 2010 United signed 21 players for £7m or more and City signed 22. However, between 1995 and start of July 2007 City had only signed 1 player (Anelka) for £7m or more while Utd had signed 14 (3 of which had cost £27m or more by 2004!)
For me that final stat is the most significant. At a time when most football clubs could spend a few million, United were able to buy 14 players to City's 1 valuable asset.