Numbers don’t add up in City’s £500m black hole
BEGIRISTAIN WILL BE HOPING HIS OLD PAL PEP DELIVERS AS SPENDING AT THE ETIHAD SPIRALS OUT OF CONTROL
TXIKI BEGIRISTAIN now has half-a-billion reasons to pray that Pep Guardiola delivers on his reputation as the world’s best manager.
It is almost five years since Barcelona’s former director of football Begiristain took up the same role at Manchester City, with a brief to lure Pep to the Etihad and make the Blues a super club. But despite the arrival of Guardiola 12 months ago – and a transfer spend that has smashed through the £500million barrier – it could be claimed that 52-year-old Txiki’s main qualification for the job is that he is one of Pep’s closest friends. Roberto Mancini’s City were reigning champions when Begiristain arrived in October 2012. They have since won another Premier League title and lifted the League Cup twice under Manuel Pellegrini. And there was also the promise of a first appearance in the 2016 Champions League semi-finals, before Pellegrini was eased aside for Guardiola. Compared to what fans had been forced to endure in the three decades before Sheikh Mansour’s 2008 takeover, the blue side of Manchester are living the dream. But the bottom line is that City have underachieved since Begiristain was asked to bring the Barca model to the Etihad. Manchester United and Arsenal have both lifted more silverware over the last three seasons – years when they were supposed to be in crisis. Champions League qualification has been City’s salvation. But the hit-andmiss transfer record that plagued Begiristain during some of Barcelona’s most glorious years has reared its ugly head again. And the numbers are staggering. City’s swoop on Friday to make Kyle Walker the world’s most expensive defender could eventually cost them £54m.
That deal took Begiristain’s transfer spending to £658.58m.
We can now add another £10.1m – City have confirmed the signing of Brazilian teenager Douglas Luiz from Vasco da Gama. The midfielder is expected to be loaned to Girona – the club owned by Pep’s brother Pare.
Over the same period, Begiristain has raised just £161.35m in sales – leaving a net outlay of £507.33m. That figure will rise significantly before the transfer window closes.
City are closing in on £45m Benjamin Mendy (below) from Monaco and will have to lavish more than the £50m they had earmarked to land Alexis Sanchez (right) if they are to tempt Arsenal into selling the contract rebel.
And the backlog of unwanted talent at City is also proving an embarrassment. High-level sources at the club confirmed to Sunday Mirror Sport that City believed they would raise well in excess of £100m in sales this summer. And that was supposed to be a conservative estimate.
Selling Joe Hart, the England goalkeeper deemed surplus to requirements by Guardiola 12 months ago, was expected to bring in at least £20m.
After spending last season at Torino, Hart has agreed to join West Ham on loan – but only after City agreed to pay half of his £120,000-a-week wages.
Eliaquim Mangala was bought for £41m in 2014 during a summer when City’s net transfer budget was limited to £49m by UEFA for their failure to meet Financial Fair Play rules.
The Frenchman had an impressive season on loan at Valencia, yet City will recoup no more than £18m if Paris St Germain follow up on their interest in him.
Buyers are also yet to be found for Samir Nasri and Wilfried Bony – two players whose transfer fees totalled in excess of £50m.
Kelechi Iheanacho, Fernando, Fabian Delph, Nolito, Patrick Roberts and Jason Denayer are others who were expected to generate significant interest.
Iheanacho is a £25m target for Leicester, but the Foxes are baulking at a buy-back agreement that would net them just £5m if the striker ever returned to the Etihad. Nolito is expected to join Seville for just £6.1m – 12 months after costing City £13.8m. So far, City have managed to generate just over £25m this summer for four players who never made a first-team appearance – Aaron Mooy, Enes Unal, Olivier Ntcham and Ruben Sobrino.
One insider at the heart of top-flight football recruitment said: “The market has gone crazy, with fees going through the roof. Yet, in a seller’s market, City are practically having to give players away.
“The Premier League has never been so awash with money, but West Ham are getting England’s best goalkeeper for free and only having to pay half of his wages.
“Clubs know City are desperate to get rid, so are playing a waiting game, knowing there will be a bargain towards the end of the window.”
Successes? Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Fernandinho have all given value for money – even if they didn’t come cheap – while Jesus Gabriel has been a £27m steal.
The capture of Bernardo Silva from Monaco for £42.5m also looks like excellent business.
Fernandinho is the only player signed by Begiristain in that key summer of 2013 who is still at the club. Despite spending a fortune on a squad for Guardiola’s arrival, the new boss admitted soon after he took over that he had inherited a team that was too old.
It has not gone unnoticed by the club’s Abu Dhabi owners that the likes of Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure are still the most influential members of the squad – despite being recruited by Garry Cook and Brian Marwood.