How Club World Cup is paying for Man City & Chelsea's summer signings

Manchester City and Chelsea are already quids in from playing in the Fifa Club World Cup - and they could yet end up earning loads more.

Some of their summer signings' transfer fees have even already been paid off.

With near-empty stadiums, extreme weather conditions and poor pitches dominating the news agenda during the group stages of the competition, it is easy to overlook just how much money clubs are earning as the tournament goes on.

Some teams pocketed tens of millions just for qualifying.

BBC Sport looks at how much you can earn at the Club World Cup - and how much the English teams have made already.

If Manchester City win the tournament they would land about £92m in total - but Chelsea would earn slightly less.

The potential prize money was initially reported as £97m but the exchange rate between US dollars and British pounds has changed since then.

Teams get a participation fee for playing, which for European teams varies depending on "sporting and commercial criteria".

City's fee is the maximum of £27.9m. Chelsea are on the upper end of the scale but do not get quite as much, BBC Sport has been told.

Both teams qualified for the tournament by winning the Champions League in the past four seasons.

Teams from North America, Africa, Asia and Oceania get just under £7m, with South American clubs landing about £11m.

The prize money rises depending how far you go (regardless of which continent you are from).

The total prize pot Fifa has offered is $1bn (£730m), which is believed to be a record amount.

Manchester City have earned prize money of roughly £37.8m - which is the most any team has bagged because they were the only side to win all their group games.

Chelsea have earned a little bit less. They had a smaller participation fee and, while their group-stage defeat by Flamengo didn't cost them a place in the last 16, it did cost them almost £1.5m.

The additional prize money from here on in is the same for each club who progress to an equal stage.

City and Chelsea each stand to earn £9.6m if they win their last-16 ties - with the potential for more big earnings if they go further.

Chelsea face Benfica on Saturday (21:00 BST) and City play Al-Hilal on Tuesday (02:00).

It is only 23 days since Chelsea paid £30m to sign Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap, who scored in their 3-0 win over ES Tunis.

But that transfer fee has probably been paid off already - or near enough - by the Blues' prize money.

Or else it has pretty much covered the £29m they will pay for Palmeiras winger Estevao Willian after the Club World Cup.

Manchester City paid £31m for Wolves left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, who assisted a goal in their 5-2 win over Juve.

That fee has already been paid off by their earnings - with an extra £7m or so.

The £30.5m City paid Lyon for forward Rayan Cherki, who scored in the 6-0 win over Al Ain, would also be covered by a run to the semi-finals.

And if they win the tournament, they would also have earned enough for about two-thirds of the £46.3m fee they paid AC Milan for Netherlands midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.

To put the total potential prize pot of £91.9m into context, only about 12 transfer fees in football history amount to more.

Favourably - especially when you consider the tournament is 'only' seven games long for the winner.

Paris St-Germain earned about £95m for winning the Champions League last season, but their campaign was 17 matches in total.

Prize money in the 38-game Premier League is more nuanced and dependant on revenues, but in 2023-24 champions Manchester City took home £175.9m.

At the other end of the scale, Crystal Palace only pocketed £3.9m for winning the FA Cup this year.

That means a team would have to lift the FA Cup 24 times to earn the same amount of prize money as City - who lost to Palace at Wembley - would by winning the Club World Cup.

Speaking in March when the prize fund was first announced, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said his squad "don't deserve" to see any of the money on offer.

While City have impressed so far in the competition - not least in Thursday's 5-2 thumping of Juventus - it follows a tough and trophyless campaign.

"We don't deserve a bonus this season," said Guardiola. "The bonus, if you win, I don't know how much, it's for the club.

"The managers, the backroom staff, the players, we don't deserve - not even a watch."

Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says he hasn't felt any extra pressure because of the riches on offer.

"The owners just want the best for us and for the players game by game, and they are not talking about the final prize or the final reward in terms of money," said Maresca before their final group game against ES Tunis.

"They never put pressure on me or the players in terms of we need to win this tournament because of the money."

In March, European Leagues president Claudius Schafer says he "fears for the future" of domestic competitions because of the distortion created by the Club World Cup prize money.

"If an Austrian league club gets $50m, that has a huge influence on [that] league," he said.

Salzburg will have earned at least £11.5m despite going out in the group stage.

Meanwhile, Seattle Sounders warmed up for a game in T-shirts with 'Club World Ca$h Grab' written on the front, in an argument involving MLS players over bonuses.

New Zealand champions Auckland City, whose team are made up of amateurs on expenses, are also involved in a similar issue.