They were only here for money says state media
In an editorial following the trip to Shanghai and Nanjing for the Asia Trophy, the government-owned Xinhua Agency accused City of only going to China for the money.
The article, under the headline ‘Chinese fans’ love for Man City goes unreciprocated on home soil’, says that Pep Guardiola and his squad failed to engage with local supporters in the same way as Wolves, West Ham and Newcastle had.
The attack will come as a huge embarrassment to City’s Abu Dhabi owners. Sheikh Mansour sold a 13 per cent of the club to Chinese Media Capital for £265million in 2015.
Chinese president Xi Jinping helped seal the deal when he visited the Etihad Campus two months earlier on a state visit.
City view China as a market with rich potential and bought Sichuan Jiuniu five months ago. The attack by the world’s biggest media outlet is a PR disaster.
City arrived in China more than 48 hours late after their private flight to Shanghai had to be cancelled twice due to an admin cock-up over airspace.
Xinhua’s article – carried on the media giant’s English website – begins by blasting Guardiola for refusing to speak to fans after City beat West Ham in Nanjing lastWednesday. It added: “Taken alone, it might have been excusable as a oneoff, perhaps due to jet lag or a packed schedule.
“But unfortunately it proved to be just one example among many of the utter disrespect shown by Manchester City to their hosts during their tour. For the Premier League champions, their appearance in China was nothing more than a commercial obligation.
“Their lack of enthusiasm and the indifferent treatment of their hosts stands in stark contrast to representatives of other clubs.”
Wolves, who won the tournament by beating City on penalties in Saturday’s final, judged the trip as a big success.
The club arranged a ‘meet and greet’ with fans at a new store opening and Nuno Espirito Santo and his players attended a fashion show with representatives of Chinese owners.
Xinhua say City chief executive Ferran Soriano gave a talk on how his club are trying to tap into Chinese markets.
It claims Soriano’s mission was “focused on how the club could best commercially expand into China”.
It concludes: “While the other clubs were here chasing hearts and minds, extracting cash from the pockets of fans has appeared to be the only consistent goal for Man City.
“An attitude of arrogance and the belief that they were the main attraction to the Premier League Asia Trophy was misplaced and stood in direct contrast to the other clubs.
“Today those clubs leave China with a new-found respect and new fans; Manchester City leave China with neither.” the club’s