Saturday’s FA Cup fourth round tie at the Etihad is truly a David versus Goliath encounter.
Premier League champions Manchester City’s professional roster cost a monumental £390m.
Even when the players who are injured, on loan or on international duty are stripped away, Manuel Pellegrini can select from playing resources that cost £321.55m to assemble.
That’s 40-times more than Championship promotion hopefuls Boro’s first team squad, which was put together for a modest £8.25m.
Read on for a breakdown of who cost what.
Introducing Manchester City…
1: Joe Hart, 27 (England) goalkeeper £600,000
3: Bacary Sagna, 31 (France) right-back £0 (free agent)
4: Vincent Kompany, 28 (Belgium) centre-back £6m
5: Pablo Zabaleta, 30 (Argentina) right-back £6.45m
6: Fernando, 27 (Brazil) central midfield £12m
7: James Milner, 28 (England) midfield/attack £26m
9: Alvaro Negredo, 29 (Spain) striker £20.6m
10: Edin Dzeko, 28 (Bosnia Herzegovena) striker £27m
11: Aleksander Kolarov, 29 (Serbia) left-back/midfield £16m
12: Scott Sinclair, 25 (England) winger £8m
13: Willy Caballero, 32 (Argentina) goalkeeper £4.4m
15: Jesus Navas, 29 (Spain) winger £14.9m
16: Sergio Aguero, 26 (Argentina) striker £38m
18: Frank Lampard, 36 (England) central midfield £0 (free agent)
20: Eliaquim Mangala, 23 (France) defender £32m
21: David Silva, 29, (Spain) attacking midfielder £24m
22: Gael Clichy, 29 (France) left-back £7m
25: Fernandinho, 29 (Brazil) central midfield £30m
26: Martin Demichelis, 34 (Argentina) centre-back £4.2m
35: Stevan Jovetic, 25 (Montenegro) striker £22m
38: Dedryck Boyata, 24 (Belgium) centre-back £0 (youth signing)
78: Jose Angel Pozo, 18 (Spain) £2.4m
Injured
8: Samir Nasri, 27 (France) midfield £25m
On African Cup of Nations duty
14: Wilfried Bony, 26 (Ivory Coast) striker £25m
42: Yaya Toure, 31 (Ivory Coast) midfield £24m
Currently on loan
2: Micah Richards, 26 (England) defender £0 (youth signing) – on loan with Fiorentina
19: Karim Rekik, 20 (Holland) left-back/centre-back £0 (youth signing) – on loan with PSV Eindhoven
33: Matija Nastasic, 21 (Serbia) centre-back £12m – on loan with Schalke
36: Bruno Zuculini, 21 (Argentina) midfield £1.5m – on loan with Valencia
60: John Guidetti, 22 (Sweden) striker £0 (youth signing) – on loan with Celtic
64: Marco Lopes, 19 (Portugal) midfield £790,000 – on loan with Lille
Total cost of current City squad: £389.84m
Introducing Boro…
3: George Friend £100,000
4: Dani Ayala £350,000
5: Ryan Fredericks £0 (on loan from Tottenham)
6: Ben Gibson £0 (homegrown)
7: Grant Leadbitter £0 (free agent)
8: Adam Clayton £1.5m
9: Kike £2.7m
10: Lee Tomlin £1.5m
11: Emmanuel Ledesma £0 (free agent)
13: Dimi Konstantopoulos £0 (free agent)
14: Luke Williams £0 (homegrown)
17: James Husband £500,000
18: Dean Whitehead £0 (free agent)
19: Mustapha Carayol £100,000
20: Adam Reach £0 (homegrown)
21: Jelle Vossen (on loan from Genk)
22: Kenneth Omeruo (on loan from Chelsea)
23: Patrick Bamford (on loan from Chelsea)
24: Emilio Nsue £0 (free agent)
26: Tomas Kalas (on loan from Chelsea)
27: Albert Adomah £1m
28: Bryn Morris £0 (homegrown)
30: Bradley Fewster £0 (homegrown)
33: Yanic Wildschut £500,000
39: Jonathan Woodgate £0 (free agent)
40: Tomas Mejias £0 (undisclosed, nominal fee)
Injured
2: Damia Abella £0 (free agent)
15: Seb Hines £0 (homegrown)
25: Rhys Williams £0 (homegrown)