City Sheikh-up turning a profit
STERLING was the buzzword swirling around the Etihad Stadium last week.
Hours after Manchester City’s record-breaking annual accounts showed their first-ever £500million turnover, news broke that their winger Raheem is demanding a £5.2m pay rise.
That’s a £100,000-aweek increase on his current £175,000 deal, potentially, taking him up to £14m-a-year.
But it’s still short of City top earner Kevin De Bruyne’s £340,000 a week – or £17m-a-year.
City want to keep Sterling, who scored 23 goals last term, but feel any deal must be incentivised over future seasons.
Given their huge outlay on transfers, City’s wage ratio of 52 per cent of turnover is relatively modest.
But to the majority of football fans whose clubs aren’t financed by overseas billionaires, those wage levels are obscene.
Outside the blue half of Manchester, the 10-year reign of Sheikh Mansour (above) is viewed with suspicion and distrust.
Financial Fair Play rules and fines have proved only a minor irritant for City and Europe’s elite.
But City’s financial and football stewardship has improved significantly since an uncertain start to Mansour’s takeover.
His upgraded financial model has produced four successive years of modest profits after some heavy losses. City are sure they have a blueprint for success that will continue with or without Pep Guardiola. Their transfer policy now targets younger players with potential. Seven domestic trophies in 10 years is an impressive on-field return.
But their dream is domestic domination on the scale Sir Alex Ferguson created at rivals United.
The holy grail remains Champions League success and creating a global brand to challenge Barca, Bayern and Real.
The new accounts send a clear message: Mansour won’t be leaving Manchester any time soon.