Guardiola’s rebuilding plans hit by City’s European ban
Without Champions League, club will find it tough to attract top players
MANCHESTER: Manchester City’s two-year ban from European football could undermine manager Pep Guardiola’s attempt to rebuild the team after a disappointing failure to compete with Liverpool in the Premier League title race this season.
Until UEFA handed out its ban on Friday citing breaches of its Financial Fair Play regulations, the focus at City was on how they might strengthen their squad to make a stronger bid next season. If the club cannot offer players European competition, however, they may find it harder to attract the talent Guardiola needs to catch up with Liverpool.
Liverpool could win the title this term as early as next month. They currently lead the Premier League by a massive 22 points from second-placed City, winners of the past two Premier League titles.
City are still in contention in this year’s Champions League and face a two-legged tie with Real Madrid in this month’s last 16 games. But regardless of how they fare this campaign, their midterm future in European football looks set to be decided by lawyers and judges.
The biggest immediate question mark is over the future of Guardiola himself. He has made no secret of his burning desire to triumph in the Champions League—something he has hasn’t managed since his 2011 victory with Barcelona.
If he doesn’t achieve that this season and is barred from even attempting it for two years, that will be a major blow to the coach whose contract at City runs out at the end of next season.
One factor that could keep him in Manchester is Guardiola’s good personal relationship with City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain, who gave him his chance in management at Barcelona, and with City CEO Ferran
Soriano, another ex-barca man.
On top of that, Guardiola may feel a sense of responsibility to Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the City chairman and the man behind the club’s financial power through their United Arab Emirates owners. Even if Guardiola feels it would be wrong to jump ship, however, his players may not feel the same way. Kevin De Bruyne is 28 and time is ticking on his chances of winning the Champions League. Raheem Sterling is at the peak of his career at 25 and could be the kind of player other clubs would target.
WHAT NOW FOR THE MAN CITY PROJECT?
LONDON: Manchester City have enjoyed a meteoric rise from midtable mediocrity to serial trophy winners thanks to the deep pockets of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour. But now they face their biggest challenge of the new era.
City are up for the fight and will have their day in court. The club immediately responded that they would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for what they called “an impartial judgement”.
However, failure to overturn the ban, even if it is reduced to just a one-season suspension, would have huge ramifications for City on and off the field.
Should City’s appeal fail, there could be repercussions for the futures of manager Pep Guardiola and a host of star players.
Guardiola’s contract runs until the end of the 2020/21 season, but the only major task left for the Catalan in Manchester is to make City European champions for the first time.
City made €93 million from UEFA prize money and TV rights from last season’s Champions League, with gate receipts and extra sponsorship revenue from Europe’s premier club competition added to that tally.
It would be almost impossible for the club to lose that level of revenue for two years and remain Ffp-compliant without cutting costs on transfer fees and wages, or selling players.
The great unknown is how Abu Dhabi reacts to the setback. Is that brand now damaged goods, particularly if FFP restrictions mean City’s success on the field is curtailed? On the other hand, the huge investment from Abu Dhabi has already lifted City to the status of one of the world’s heavyweight clubs.