Club World Cup finalists Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain have returned from the USA a little richer having picked up over $100m each for their success in the competition.
The total prize money of $1Bn has been shared out among the competitors with half of that being paid on the basis of performance; so this is a handy windfall for two of football’s wealthiest clubs.
Chelsea won the final rather more easily than expected, 3-0 ahead at the half time break and that was how the game ended. It was a surprise outcome, not so much the result but more the manner of the Blues’ win as, while Enzo Maresca’s team had looked solid throughout the tournament, Luis Enrique’s PSG had swept some of Europe’s biggest teams aside with consummate ease.
So where do we go from here? Let’s take a look at the two clubs and ponder how their next 10 months might just pan out.
The Blues aim to compete at the top
Chelsea, owned by American businessman Todd Boehly, has spent an eye-watering amount of cash since his arrival in 2022. And this summer they have already splashed almost twice the amount of their Club World Cup prize money, spending a cool £60m to bring in Joao Pedro from Brighton and Hove Albion, £52m on Borussia Dortmund youngster Jamie Gittens and £30m on Ipswich striker Liam Delap. Also through the Stamford Bridge door are Brazilian prodigy Estevao Willian from Palmeiras for £29m, Dario Essugo from Sporting Lisbon for £19m and Chelsea have spent an undisclosed fee to bring Mamadou Sarr from Strasbourg to west London.
It’s fair to say, with an average age of 20 among this £200m group of incomings Chelsea are looking to invest, albeit speculatively, with an eye on the future. But we are already seeing some of the benefits of this policy which started as soon as Boehly’s BlueCo took the reins in 2022. Okay it took three years but, under Maresca, recruited from Leicester City last season, the Blues finished fourth in the Premier League, won the Europa Conference League and then the Club World Cup.
The 45 year old Italian coach seems to have stabilised a clearly talented and quickly learning group of players and the improvement of striker Nicolas Jackson and midfielder Enzo Fernandez were clear to see last term. The form of attacking midfielder Cole Palmer, particularly in the Club World Cup final when he scored two goals and made an assist for new recruit Pedro, looks like he may hit the heights of 2023/24, while the return to fitness of skipper Reece James makes the Blues title contenders. The early SBOTOP Premier League 2025 betting odds make Chelsea the fourth favourites, behind Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, and that is the least Maresca will expect from his ever improving squad.
PSG want to keep their European crown
While Chelsea have already spent their Club World Cup prize money, and more, PSG are yet to open their wallet, though I’m sure we won’t have to wait much longer. It took so long for the Qatar owned club to win the Champions League that there must have been a collective sigh of relief in Paris; but the way they attacked the Club World Cup it seemed perfectly clear the Ligue 1 champions intend to kick on and make their indelible mark on Europe.
PSG’s Ligue 1 2025 results were never in doubt but their 5-0 mullering of Inter Milan in the Champions League final really made people sit up and take notice. In the Club World Cup they battered Atletico Madrid 4-0, beat Bayern Munich 2-0 and then hammered Real Madrid 4-0 to reach the final; and those results made Chelsea’s performance all the more impressive.
While the 13 times winners of the Ligue 1 title are yet to make a recruit this summer they undoubtedly picked up the signing of the January transfer window when they lured 24 year old Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from eventual Scudetto winners Napoli, for a headline grabbing fee of 61m Euros. He scored four goals and made three assists in 14 league games and was one of the standout performers of the club’s Champions League triumph.
Kvaratskhelia is clear star quality and, when you add in the likes of striker Ousmane Dembele, skipper Marquinhos and the creative talent of Vitinha and Bradley Barcola, this is a team far too good for most they will come across in the French top flight.
And it is a group of players who have already shown they can match, and beat with some style, the best in Europe.
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