Champions League preview: Time for England’s elite to show return on spending

Paris St Germain’s record spending spree in the transfer window, bringing in Neymar for €222m and Kylian Mbappe for a projected €180m, has led many to suggest all the pressure is on them to provide value for money by winning the Champions League this season.

However latest figures, taking into account net spend over five years, suggest under-achieving Manchester City should be the club under most scrutiny as the competition gets underway this week with PSG heading for Celtic Park and City for Feyenood.

The willingness of PSG owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi to meet Brazilian striker Neymar’s release clause at Barca, and follow it up with a financial fair play-defying move for Mbappe from Monaco, dominated football headlines over the summer and has seen bookmakers make them 7/1 to win the trophy in 2018, just behind favourites Real Madrid.