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Manchester City were strangely disjointed and Tottenham Hotspur were incisive, a brilliant solo goal from the brilliant Son Heung-min giving the North London side a 1-0 first leg lead going into tonight’s game at the Etihad Stadium.

It was the kind of performance befitting Spurs’ majestic new stadium, and this remarkably with Spurs’ wage bill still more than £100million lower than City’s.

For when Spurs quietly published financial results for last season days before the game, they revealed a wage bill across the board of £148million – a 16% rise year-on-year.

This after signing Davinson Sánchez, Juan Foyth, Serge Aurier, Fernando Llorente and Lucas Moura across the season.

However, Spurs’ wage bill is small change compared to the £259.6million offered by Manchester City during their record-breaking title-winning campaign last season.

Indeed, Manchester City outdo Spurs financially in almost all areas – except the bottom line.

Spurs reported a world record £138.9million pre-tax profit last season, a combination of revenues climbing by more than £70million year-on-year, a £73.1million gain on selling players and continued cost control by Daniel Levy with both eyes firmly on financing the new stadium.

Over the past five seasons, Spurs’ pre-tax profits have totalled a little over £320million, an astonishing testament to the club’s ability to keep a lid on costs and maximise the value of player sales while growing revenues.

The club has more than doubled revenues in the past five seasons, from £180.5million in 2013/14 to £380.7million last season, thanks largely to the improved Premier League deal that kicked in 2016, playing in Europe and, last season, playing home games at Wembley Stadium.

The club's well publicised cost controls gave Spurs a wage:turnover ratio of an incredible 39%.

For reference, UEFA recommends that clubs pay out no more than 70% of revenues in wages.

By contrast, Manchester City have accumulated profits over the past five seasons of £17.6million – including a £22.9million pre-tax loss in 2013/14, when they made almost no money offloading players.

Their most fruitful campaign in this regard was 2015/16, when they recorded a pre-tax profit of £19.6million, although Spurs comfortably beat this in four out of the five seasons, including an £80million pre-tax profit in 2013/14

This is despite Man City's revenues rising from £346.5million that season to £500.5million last year.

The club states in its annual report: “Our fourth consecutive year of profit – reported at £10.4million for the financial year – together with our breaking of the £500 million barrier with record revenues of £500.5 million are pleasing returns for our off-field efforts.”

The club’s wage:revenue ratio was 13 percentage points higher than Spurs’, however, at 52%, “further evidence of the underlying strength of the organisation.”

City were well within UEFA’s recommended guide.

Spurs currently have the sixth highest wage bill in the Premier League following that £20million jump, while City are in third place, nearly £40million below leaders Manchester United and within touching distance of Liverpool, following their run to the Champions League final.

This season, both clubs will see a rise in costs, despite Spurs infamously making no signings across the season.

At the tail end of the season, Harry Kane signed a bumper new six-year deal that should have a material impact on the club’s wage bill for 2018/19, shortly after Mauricio Pochettino signed a new five-year contract keeping him at the club until 2023.

Dele Alli, Kieran Trippier and Davinson Sánchez have also agreed improved terms, and Spurs have only really removed Mousa Dembele from the wage bill.

City, meanwhile, spent big to recruit Riyad Mahrez, while offering new deals to a host of first-team stars: Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Aymeric Laporte and Phil Foden, with Sergio Aguero also agreeing a one-year extension.

Pep Guardiola himself signed a contract extension in May 2018 but big hitters Joe Hart and Yaya Toure left the club.