Manchester Evening News

Blues will bounce back from this, says Brown

- By MARCUS BANKS

CFG agreed a £265m sale of shares to a consortium of Chinese state-backed investment firms China Media Capital and CITIC Capital in 2015 and in November Silver Lake bought a £389m stake.

However, a lack of Champions League action could potentiall­y cost City around £100m a season and would force a realigning of their finances to avoid running into potential further FFP problems.

That would impact the transfer fees and wages the club were able to pay.

“Getting to the final you are talking about in excess of £100m so in prize money alone there is significan­t money involved,” added Chadwick.

“In terms of ticket sales, merchandis­ing, building the overseas fanbase, not to be in the Champions League is not terminal, it is not catastroph­ic, but it significan­tly will undermine your financial performanc­e.

“And if you have been penalised financiall­y by UEFA for having breached the regulation­s and then you miss out on the revenues associated with the Champions League, it is a double-whammy.

“If you are thrust into this situation where you are constantly b re a c h i n g regulation­s because your costs are too high then the consequenc­e is you need to start regulating your costs.

“In terms of controllin­g costs, you are talking about salaries and transfer fees, so in an isolated environmen­t that would be the outcome.

“But I am not convinced this will turn out the way people think it is going to turn out.”

Former City midfielder Michael Brown believes the focus will now fall on manager Pep Guardiola and many of the big-name players at the Blues. Brown, who played for City between 1995 and 2000, said: “This is where it really puts pressure on the manager Pep Guardiola. “The test will be with him if he canno t strengthen in a way that he probably wanted in the summer.

“It might be a certain player who says ‘I want to go somewhere else for a different challenge’ with no Champions League, but there will be lots of other players who will want to come to Manchester City. That will be key.”

FORMER City player Michael Brown doesn’t believe the club’s ban from participat­ion in the Champions League will affect their business in the summer transfer window.

He believes players will still want to sign for the Blues because of the size of the club.

“The club are a huge, huge football club now. People will still want to sign for Manchester City,” Brown said.

“They’ve issued a strong statement to say they are going to try to correct this decision and I’m sure they will do but, regarding the club, you’ve got to look and say ‘how far has this club come?’

“Pep Guardiola will be aware of the prep and the planning. Will the recruitmen­t be a little bit harder? Yes it will, but if any club and any owners can take this on, then I think it is Manchester City.

“We’ve seen how quickly they have grown and what type of backing they have and the ability they’ve got to grow the club, so they will take it in their stride.

“As for Guardiola, now this is a challenge for him. He’s got a good squad and for any coach to take this on and develop players, it’s Pep Guardiola.

“Champions League football will be back. Is it ideal? No, of course it’s not. But the club will be back.

“The money has certainly put them on a platform.

“But you’ve got to look at the planning, the appointmen­t of Pep Guardiola, the purchases of football clubs all around the world, it’s been an amazing turnaround.”

It is transnatio­nal power versus localised governance. This is not Manchester City, it is City Football Group

 ??  ?? City are appealing UEFA’s decision to ban them from European football for the next two seasons
City are appealing UEFA’s decision to ban them from European football for the next two seasons

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