IT’S CRUNCH TIME FOR PEP’S £500M REVOLUTION
PEP Guardiola’s true vision for Manchester City has never been relayed in public. Not at the lavish ceremony before hundreds of supporters last summer, his proper unveiling weeks later, or countless press conferences since.
The suits are worn smarter and smiles wider for Guardiola’s mere presence at City, his appointment seen as a triumph by the hierarchy, but they have remained coy of his intentions. Now, amid one of the largest overhauls in football history, they are unavoidable.
Privately they were laid bare in the months preceding his arrival, however, as Guardiola and sporting director, his old friend from Barcelona, Txiki Begiristain, started devising plans for domestic and continental domination.
Guardiola had studied the squad in depth, surmising that it dripped with quality but was ultimately too old, and felt he could take them no further. He asked Begiristain – the man who signed the vast majority – for a completely new squad. A proper overhaul. Age was an issue and City needed to start again.
The surprisingly defiant answer was no, stars who had achieved so much at the Etihad Stadium must be phased out and not all go at once.
First because of the upheaval it would prompt and second the financial implications were too great. It also flies against the suggestion by senior club sources in March last year that Guardiola was enthused about the squad he was inheriting from Manuel Pellegrini.
Such a turnover of staff would have been unprecedented and it is only now we are witnessing phase two of Guardiola’s plan to shape his team. If you think this close season represents an astonishing amount of business, the initial idea was even bolder.
As it stands, there could well be as many as 25 in and out of the doors. A whopping £250 million has already been spent, with six signed while 11 have exited.
That was a notion Guardiola firmly rejected just three months ago.
“I am going to assure you it’s impossible to do that,” he scoffed.
In reality, Guardiola would like two more in – Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal and a central defender. Real Sociedad’s Inigo Martinez and Holger Badstuber, of Bayern Munich, have been discussed. Add that all up and their spending under Guardiola is likely to top £500m just 14 months into the job.
But, for the next fortnight, at least, Begiristain’s attention is turning towards a real drive in shipping out the perceived deadwood.
Fernando’s move to Galatasaray is expected to go through, while Eliaquim Mangala should also leave despite turning down a switch to Spartak Moscow. Fabian Delph, Samir Nasri, Wilfried Bony, Kelechi Iheanacho and Jason Denayer also need to find new employers.
City cannot afford to give away players. Uefa are continuing to monitor their finances, along with Paris Saint-Germain, after both clubs were fined for breaching Financial Fair Play rules three years ago. Uefa’s Andrea Traverso said: “Certainly FFP is not dead and we will, for sure, reinforce the rules going forward.
“It’s been a long time since 2014 when the rules had just been introduced. Now everyone knows them well.
“PSG are no longer under those restrictions, but that doesn’t mean they can start to do what they want. They must show they can have losses that do not go beyond €30m over three years.
“I’m convinced that everything will be done within the rules. But I understand very well that some people are asking questions.”
There is a sense of intrigue as to whether City will follow up their interest in Monaco teenager Kylain Mbappe, who would cost a world record fee. And there are questions being asked as to whether Guardiola does indeed want to blood the youngsters the club’s academy has spent years nurturing.
His relationship with the supporters has not always been smooth either, with the Daily Mail having revealed Guardiola told chief executive Ferran Soriano that improving the home atmosphere must be treated with the utmost importance.
There are issues to iron out, certainly, and his spell in England has not been without problems. But many of those pre-date his time in Manchester.
There is also the verdict of a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing, regarding the signing of Velez Sarsfield youngster Benjamin Garre. A transfer ban is not beyond the realms of possibility. City were warned by Monaco over Mbappe just last week.
To the club’s credit, however, they do have a transfer model that is beginning to work.
Of those sold this summer, Aaron Mooy and Enes Unal – neither of whom played a firstteam game – went for a combined £22.5m. It bears all the hallmarks of Chelsea and perhaps that comparison will sit more comfortably with club chiefs after they strenuously denied taking more than a leaf out of Barcelona’s playbook.
As for Guardiola’s, his was written a long time ago and the severity of his actions should come as no surprise for someone who has spent more than £850m in a decade as a manager. – Daily Mail