Manchester City Plan Further Squad Additions
By David Crook
This is a pivotal period for Manchester City in the transfer market if we are to improve our performances on the pitch next season.
There has been a feeling amongst Manchester City fans since last Autumn that changes were needed to the first team squad in order to sustain a Premier League challenge – a similarity in our defeats emerged as a pattern became established.
In short there was a feeling that the first great City side built by Pep Guardiola may have reached the end of its cycle of dominance. This though was not the result of any single factor.
Some players began to enter the final phases of their careers – David Silva, Sergio Aguero, others left and were not replaced – Vincent Kompany. Injuries exposed squad frailties and after two back to back years of excellence, some hunger appeared to diminish amongst some players.
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Refreshing that squad required significant planning and for certain things to fall into place. Guardiola’s ongoing commitment to what may be his final season increased the impetus to shape the squad in his image.
The victory at CAS and the continued lure of Champions League football allowed City to concentrate on tier 1 targets. But the unforeseen consequences of Covid 19 have impacted upon the finances of many Clubs, yet City have been inured to many of the cashflow issues suffered by similar clubs.
City had three things going in their favour allowing their response to be different to other Clubs.
Firstly, the ownership model is designed to allow the group to be self sufficient but is not geared to providing share holder dividends. In short City invest in the group and unlike some other clubs do not have to achieve profit redistribution.
Secondly, City received significant group investment from Silver Lake just prior to Covid 19 pandemic biting. These f7nds have been available within the City group to use without recourse to either further owner investment or bank loans.
Thirdly, City have continued to seek commercial investment rather than simply to rely upon matchday revenue to support cash flow. Clubs such as Arsenal who rely much more on matchday revenue have suffered most from a lack of attendance at matches.
So, with City being secure financially and with so many other clubs seeking to sell players to balance the books, City are well placed to invest significantly in the first team squad. We now turn to look at what the transfer strategy may include.