Ten years ago, Sheikh Mansour bought Manchester City and established what is now known as the City Football Group, with partner clubs in New York, Melbourne and Japan. Along with Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, his money has taken Manchester City out of the wilderness and into a promised land which has seen the club win three Premier League titles, one FA Cup and three League Cups. The one thing that eludes the ownership group is the Champions League.
It took Abramovich’s Chelsea side nine years from his takeover to winning the Champions League, but City’s best finish in it remains Manuel Pellegrini’s semi-final attempt back in 2015/16. Sheikh Mansour now has a manager capable of winning it, but it’s now nine years since Guardiola last won the competition with Barcelona. Since then, he’s overseen a number of heavy knockout defeats in the competition, both with Bayern Munich and now Manchester City.
Shortly after City won the title this season, Vincent Kompany was asked about the wider implications of his third, and Pep Guardiola’s first, Premier League title. He said “It’s not a dynasty. It’s just one title. We’re super happy but there’s still so much work to be done before this squad’s full potential is unlocked.”
No side has defended a Premier League title since Manchester United in 2009 and City’s past title defences haven’t really been anything worth shouting about, as they finished 11 points behind United in 2012/13, 12 months after winning the title and eight points behind Chelsea in 2014/15. However, with Guardiola’s intensity, it seems unlikely that they’ll relinquish their Premier League title in similar circumstances this time around.
In reality, what the City hierarchy will assume for next year, no matter how dangerous that is, is that they’ll win the Premier League title at a canter, but they’ll be more competitive in Europe. In their minds, winning the Champions League will be the next step in their project, and possibly might have been one that they’d have hoped to achieve already.
Winning the Champions League will be the determining factor when it comes to discussing Guardiola’s reign in the future. Prior to his arrival at City, he was labelled a fraud by not being able to win the competition with the Bayern Munich squad at his disposal. He’s silenced those doubters this season, but they’ll re-appear if City continue to struggle in the latter stages of the Champions League.
To be more competitive, they’ll need to boost their squad, and yes, it can still be improved. He’ll be backed in the transfer window and he’ll likely spend some more money on top of what he’s already spent in his tenure at the Etihad. It’ll be interesting to see if he continues in his pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian midfielder Fred. Not only will he look to boost his squad with that signing, but it’ll also be another shot over the bow of Manchester United, who’ve already declared their interest in the player.
The winger positions will also be looked at. Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane are two of the most outstanding young prospects in Europe at the moment, but there’s not much when it comes to depth. Bernardo Silva is the only back-up as it stands, unless Guardiola picks Gabriel Jesus out of position. Alexis Sanchez was a target in January, but he joined United, while Riyad Mahrez might have blotted his copybook after going MIA after being denied a move to City.
While City are best-known for big spending, it’s important to look at what they’re spending their money on. Last summer they bought in Bernardo Silva, Ederson, Kyle Walker, Danilo and Benjamin Mendy. Walker is the eldest of this quintet at the age of 27. Put that in contrast with Manchester United, who’ve gone down the “Galactico” route and there’s a clear difference.
City are also fairly adept at raking in transfer income too. Their sales last summer totalled £90 million and there’ll be some more departures this summer. Joe Hart and Yaya Toure are expected to be offloaded, while others like Eliaquim Mangala and Claudio Bravo might also be moved on.
For Guardiola though, the main bulk of re-shaping the squad and introducing a style of play has been done. It’s just the finishing touches that are now required. One worry for the City board and indeed the fans is the ticking clock that takes place with the manager. He never stays at a club for longer than three or four years and he’s almost completed his second. He’s expected to sign a contract extension, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll stay.
For now, we can savour some of the beauty that we’ve seen from City this season and hope that it continues into next season. As for whether it’s the start of a dynasty, it feels very different to when they won their first title under Roberto Mancini back in 2011/12…
