Man City 2020/21 - General discussion

Thunderhead

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You do realise right even with covid last summer they spent close to 130million. If required they will again spend close to 100 million and further strengthen their squad.
was actually £160m
 

AshRK

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With unlimited flow of money, you can get it wrong and still have money to fix it.
100 percent agree with that and that's where it helps having an ambitious owners. Sheikh care about their club and want to see them dominate.
 

masii

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Lets have some sheikh in all football clubs all around the world!
 

Thunderhead

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With unlimited flow of money, you can get it wrong and still have money to fix it.
you can, but when you're not getting it wrong very often then it's all cool. City can only have a squad of 25 in the PL, they have (I think) the smallest squad in the PL with 20 (Foden and Garcia still classed as U21) so when have they been getting it wrong and then just fixing it with this mysterious unlimited flow of money?
 

K Stand Knut

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you can, but when you're not getting it wrong very often then it's all cool. City can only have a squad of 25 in the PL, they have (I think) the smallest squad in the PL with 20 (Foden and Garcia still classed as U21) so when have they been getting it wrong and then just fixing it with this mysterious unlimited flow of money?
Is this a serious question?
 

Mb194dc

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You do realise right even with covid last summer they spent close to 130million. If required they will again spend close to 100 million and further strengthen their squad.
That was last summer. They'll spend close to zero this summer imo.

I doubt any big transfers happen. January was just the start. Will be swaps and free transfers only.

Even the UAE going to have major financial trouble from Covid 19.

Last summer it was expected things would go back to normal.

Look at the planning for Euro 2020... Does that look normal? If things ever go back to exactly the same as per Covid it won't be for years and possibly decades.
 

Thunderhead

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Is this a serious question?
no, with the exception of Bravo (who stayed till the end of his contract) I can't think of anyone they have signed in the last few years who this would apply too, certainly can't think of any players that cost serious money who came who they have just benched or sent out on loan after a bad season. You could probably say Danilo but they recouped more than they paid for him. Bony and Mangala were 7 years ago maybe, but that's 4 players out of how many, 50ish
 

K Stand Knut

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no, with the exception of Bravo (who stayed till the end of his contract) I can't think of anyone they have signed in the last few years who this would apply too, certainly can't think of any players that cost serious money who came who they have just benched or sent out on loan after a bad season. You could probably say Danilo but they recouped more than they paid for him. Bony and Mangala were 7 years ago maybe, but that's 4 players out of how many, 50ish
well, I’m glad it wasn’t a serious question. I was, for some reason, thinking that you were suggesting Pep/city haven’t had a regular turnover of players in the same position.

Personally, I think there are loads of examples of players being bought by city and then being replaced after the short term, or when they haven’t worked out as well as they hoped
 

Thunderhead

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well, I’m glad it wasn’t a serious question. I was, for some reason, thinking that you were suggesting Pep/city haven’t had a regular turnover of players in the same position.

it was slightly facetious more to the mytical unlimited money quote, but seriously I'd say we don't have a huge turnover of players in the same position year on year on year, even moreso now as Guardiola likes a small squad.
 

dinostar77

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The irony. Ole just came out and said dont expect much money to be spent by utd this summer (sky sports).

Then apparently City will back Guardiola this summer with some major recruitment and signings (transfer window podcast).

Sigh. City just going to go further and further away arent they for a few seasons.
 

K Stand Knut

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it was slightly facetious more to the mytical unlimited money quote, but seriously I'd say we don't have a huge turnover of players in the same position year on year on year, even moreso now as Guardiola likes a small squad.
you don’t think you/they have ‘unlimited funds’.

ive used this word a lot today but if you genuinely think that, you’re deluded.

it’s happened completely across your back 4 for starters.
 

Thunderhead

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you don’t think you/they have ‘unlimited funds’.

ive used this word a lot today but if you genuinely think that, you’re deluded.

it’s happened completely across your back 4 for starters.

in what way? in 2016 the defence was

Kompany, Clichy, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Sagna who were all 32+

In addition

Stones, Otamendi, Mangala

Now it's

Stones, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Walker, Zinchenco, Mendy, Ake, Garcia

so we had 8 defenders then, we have 8 now, only other defender we've purchased in this time is Danilo, and Angelino who was on a buyback to sell for even more somewhere else. (I may have missed someone, but can't think of anyone at the moment)

Otamendi ran his course and was part of the Dias deal Mangala left on a free, Kolarov was sold to Roma aged 32 and the others I think have all retired, what were we supposed to do.
 

jontheblue

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They have done a lot right since 2010 whereas we have done a lot wrong.

We went from one extreme in SAF’s last years (buying cheaper mediocre players while missing out on quality players because we didn’t want to pay 6 mil agent fee for Hazard and so on) to the other extreme immediately after he retired (breaking club transfer record on Mata when we had no idea how to use him, and until today no manager has used him in a way which could even remotely justify the fee, nor have we sold him and now he is still here on high wages and not young anymore + so many more and even more expensive examples after that).
Not only take our owners unlimited money out of the club, but even worse they have no idea how to spend the money we do invest in players. They just rely on the manager to get everything right (which mostly hasn’t worked so far).
refreshingly realistic

how/why/whether we should have our money is a topic for discussion, but it's largely a separate discussion to the one about how the money has been spent
You do realize we've been a bigger club than Liverpool for the majority of our existence. We were bigger than them even when they had their period of dominance.

It tickles me how many City fans think they are going to surpass us in any of our lifetimes. Our most hated rivals dominated for 20 years & still couldn't become the biggest club in England.

City may overtake Utd's & Liverpool's trophy hauls in our lifetimes but that won't make them a big club. The size of a club is measured by revenues, fanbase & global reach. City are a very long way off competing on these fronts.
This idea of measuring who is the 'bigger club' or who has the most 'history' (never has a word been more misused and abused) seems to be far more the focus of united fans than city fans. What most fans are concerned about is trophies, then style/excitement, then individual players. Of course if in some distant future we surpass the total number of PL wins that United have (unlikely and certainly not any time soon) that would be a big deal as part of the rivalry, just as United took great pleasure in having a banner up showing how many years it was since we won a trophy, but that's only banter.
 

Suedesi

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This cnuts keep winning match after match after match. This seems like the year when they finally break the European duck (then again I'm hoping they feck up royally against Bayern Munich or better yet Porto)
 

Zlatan 7

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refreshingly realistic

how/why/whether we should have our money is a topic for discussion, but it's largely a separate discussion to the one about how the money has been spent


This idea of measuring who is the 'bigger club' or who has the most 'history' (never has a word been more misused and abused) seems to be far more the focus of united fans than city fans. What most fans are concerned about is trophies, then style/excitement, then individual players. Of course if in some distant future we surpass the total number of PL wins that United have (unlikely and certainly not any time soon) that would be a big deal as part of the rivalry, just as United took great pleasure in having a banner up showing how many years it was since we won a trophy, but that's only banter.
It was a city fan who brought it up in this thread
 

K Stand Knut

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in what way? in 2016 the defence was

Kompany, Clichy, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Sagna who were all 32+

In addition

Stones, Otamendi, Mangala

Now it's

Stones, Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Walker, Zinchenco, Mendy, Ake, Garcia

so we had 8 defenders then, we have 8 now, only other defender we've purchased in this time is Danilo, and Angelino who was on a buyback to sell for even more somewhere else. (I may have missed someone, but can't think of anyone at the moment)

Otamendi ran his course and was part of the Dias deal Mangala left on a free, Kolarov was sold to Roma aged 32 and the others I think have all retired, what were we supposed to do.
you have spent £200m+ on 4 CBs in the past 4 summer transfer windows, all of whom are aged 26 or under. Being able to replace/add to these on an annual basis is completely unique for a club.

Luckily for city fans, it’s not unique to the CB position. You spent close to £90m on two RBs in 10 ten days in 2017. Both players are in their prime now and you spent another £70m on another RB this summer.
 

Corey

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in what way? in 2016 the defence was

Kompany, Clichy, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Sagna who were all 32+
I haven't bothered checking the others but this didn't sound right to me so I checked Kompany and he would have been 29 or 30 during 2016, depending on the point during the year. That should be a central defender's prime, so it's misleading to make it sound like he necessarily would've needed replacing/phasing out.
 

Thunderhead

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I haven't bothered checking the others but this didn't sound right to me so I checked Kompany and he would have been 29 or 30 during 2016, depending on the point during the year. That should be a central defender's prime, so it's misleading to make it sound like he necessarily would've needed replacing/phasing out.
sorry yeah, 2016-17 season he turned 31, but even so he was a half a season player by then anyway.
 

Ladron de redcafe

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“In case people don't know, MCFC are in 9th place. They are playing terribly and enduring one of their worst seasons since they got their oil money.
This is definitely not a team that will win the league or get close.”

@sunama I said I’d revisit this post with you after you criticised Ole for drawing against City and not going all out for a win.
Wow. This aged horrifically, didn't it?
 

Thunderhead

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you have spent £200m+ on 4 CBs in the past 4 summer transfer windows, all of whom are aged 26 or under. Being able to replace/add to these on an annual basis is completely unique for a club.

Luckily for city fans, it’s not unique to the CB position. You spent close to £90m on two RBs in 10 ten days in 2017. Both players are in their prime now and you spent another £70m on another RB this summer.

but we didn't spend a penny on right backs from 2011 - 2017, so we're not doing it every season and spending £200m on 4 CB's under the age of 26 to replace the CB's who were over 30 and doing it ovrt 4 season sounds like good planning to me.


and you're exaggerating it was £80m on two right backs, Walker and Danilo. Cancelo was last summer not this summer gone who we purchased for £60 but got £30m of Juve for Danilo, so since 2011 we've spent £110m nett on right backs which without looking probably isn't a kick in the balls on what you've spent on right backs in the last 10 years.
 

K Stand Knut

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but we didn't spend a penny on right backs from 2011 - 2017, so we're not doing it every season and spending £200m on 4 CB's under the age of 26 to replace the CB's who were over 30 and doing it ovrt 4 season sounds like good planning to me.


and you're exaggerating it was £80m on two right backs, Walker and Danilo. Cancelo was last summer not this summer gone who we purchased for £60 but got £30m of Juve for Danilo, so since 2011 we've spent £110m nett on right backs which without looking probably isn't a kick in the balls on what you've spent on right backs in the last 10 years.
You can twist it and manipulate it all you want.

The original point was that you don’t have an endless pot of money to keep buying players, which is quite frankly bollox.

You and PSG are in a very unique situation that no other club benefits from, allowing the situation that I’ve described above.
 

reddevilchennai

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I think they will win the title in next season too with Chelsea being the only contender if Roman Abromovich is willing to spend on striker and CB.This City squad misses a Striker which Pep will be definitely given by Shiek next summer window.

No way United and Liverpool can buy players like Sancho, Harland which they want at this current climate.
 

Noot

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I mean, it definitely will happen one day as nothing is permanent.

The real Question is whether City will be a self sustaining title contender by then, though I don't even think there is much doubt about that at this stage.

Summary, one day the Sheiks will leave, but unless they are cooking the books even more than we know then City should survive it pretty comfortably when they do.
The idea that they'll "get bored" and abandon the club is ridiculous.
 

Noot

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The oil money will dry up in the next two decades.
The reliance on oil is coming to a stop globally, your owners have very little income outside of the oil industry certainly not enough to keep splurging on a football club that gives them not very much in return financially.
You cannot sustain wages on the money you receive from season tickets, and tv money and still be at the level yous currently are at imo.
Im not saying this to be detrimental to your club or anything this is just my own opinion :)
1) Oil money running out doesn't constitute "getting bored" to anything other than the simplest of minds.
2) There's no chance that businesspeople of their proven caliber haven't already thought about what they'll do when oil is gone. If a GCSE Biology student knows that oil is non-renewable then I'm pretty sure Sheikh Mansour does too.
 

Noot

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Wrong, we are balls deep for haaland and Messi only has to say the word and he's in Manchester.
We'll pull out the second another top club wants Haaland and Messi won't say the word. If he was interested in anything other than who can give him the biggest wages, he'd already be in Manchester.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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you can, but when you're not getting it wrong very often then it's all cool. City can only have a squad of 25 in the PL, they have (I think) the smallest squad in the PL with 20 (Foden and Garcia still classed as U21) so when have they been getting it wrong and then just fixing it with this mysterious unlimited flow of money?
You have spent about 800m-900m under Pep and more than 50% (about 500m) of that just spent on defensive players alone season by season to fix the problem. It's not mysterious mate.
 

teteus

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Continually making the same point doesn't make it anymore valid. Nobody proclaimed the death of football in earlier times as no teams were state funded. This is a new phenomenon. Many teams have received investment through the years but there was always a limit on what the owners were prepared to put in. Someone worth £5 Billion isn't going to put £2 Billion into a football club for shits & giggles.

PSG have destroyed the French League & City look like doing the same in the PL. I really don't see how any of this bullshit ends if PSG & City's cheat codes aren't turned off.
It won't happen in the PL and it's too early to make any such prediction. How talk changes so quickly, City started badly the season and people wanted Guardiola sacked and declared the end of this City team.

And the point that users are making here is that oil money is dirty money. They're appealing to morality to invalidate City's sucess. I'm showing Berlusconi with Milan, Berlusconi surely had a lot of dirty money from mafia and he made Milan big again almost overnight with huge injections of money. It is not like state run money is the only dirty money it exists.

My point is that the City and PSG route has increasingly become the only possible route to small or mid-tier clubs become big teams ever since Bosman. Football is more unequal and unbalanced than ever. City and PSG are not the cause of this new world of football, they are a natural result of it. We'll never have an Ajax being able to consistently compete at top european level again unless football makes some drastic dranges, like limiting the number of foreign players per club and so on. But these are changes that no top club, including United, is interested on, they want to keep their super teams.
 

ray24

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For some reasons, Man Utd fans are forgetting the fact that Liverpool did win the PL last season against Man City, and dominating the table by an even larger margin at this stage. And the season prior to that, they were very close to nicking it off City.

So it is possible to build a team that can compete against City. The only difference is you need a good manager that can push teams to beat teams on a very consistent basis.
 

BlackBinBag

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For some reasons, Man Utd fans are forgetting the fact that Liverpool did win the PL last season against Man City, and dominating the table by an even larger margin at this stage. And the season prior to that, they were very close to nicking it off City.

So it is possible to build a team that can compete against City. The only difference is you need a good manager that can push teams to beat teams on a very consistent basis.
The only way any PL team is going to compete with City is by finding their SAF/Klopp. These kinds of managers are a rarity.

Liverpool have crashed & burned this season due not having enough money to improve their squad depth. Even the best managers cannot continually keep pulling the rabbit from the hat.

Teams like PSG & City will have off years. PSG recently lost the league to Monaco & City lost out to Liverpool. When this happens these teams will spend big again. You are then stuck in a perpetual cycle of 1 team regularly winning the league punctuated by outlier seasons.
 

Pep's Suit

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The only way any PL team is going to compete with City is by finding their SAF/Klopp. These kinds of managers are a rarity.

Liverpool have crashed & burned this season due not having enough money to improve their squad depth. Even the best managers cannot continually keep pulling the rabbit from the hat.

Teams like PSG & City will have off years. PSG recently lost the league to Monaco & City lost out to Liverpool. When this happens these teams will spend big again. You are then stuck in a perpetual cycle of 1 team regularly winning the league punctuated by outlier seasons.
Liverpool spent £70m on Thiago and Jota. And another £10m on a leftback who then only played 3 mins or so in the league. I think they simply made some bad signings recently and didn't move players like Ox, Shaqiri or Origi who offer very little.
 

ray24

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The only way any PL team is going to compete with City is by finding their SAF/Klopp. These kinds of managers are a rarity.

Liverpool have crashed & burned this season due not having enough money to improve their squad depth. Even the best managers cannot continually keep pulling the rabbit from the hat.

Teams like PSG & City will have off years. PSG recently lost the league to Monaco & City lost out to Liverpool. When this happens these teams will spend big again. You are then stuck in a perpetual cycle of 1 team regularly winning the league punctuated by outlier seasons.
That is always the case. Most managers that won the PL are special managers like Ferguson, Wenger and Mourinho. Liverpool did spent money on players that on paper looks to improve them. The problem is their new players ended up being injured or taking a while to settle in. If Jota had managed to avoid injury, I suspect Liverpool can do a lot better than what they are doing now.

Man City simply have a clear idea of what kind of managers they want to have, and went out to back him 100%. If you guys could do the same, finding the right kind of manager and backing him fully, you guys could easily dominate the league as well.
 
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teteus

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The only way any PL team is going to compete with City is by finding their SAF/Klopp. These kinds of managers are a rarity.

Liverpool have crashed & burned this season due not having enough money to improve their squad depth. Even the best managers cannot continually keep pulling the rabbit from the hat.

Teams like PSG & City will have off years. PSG recently lost the league to Monaco & City lost out to Liverpool. When this happens these teams will spend big again. You are then stuck in a perpetual cycle of 1 team regularly winning the league punctuated by outlier seasons.
Guardiola already is the SAF/Klopp of City. That's key to how sucessful they are. United has the money to be at least as sucessful as City, but haven't managed to find the magical combination of players and coach to do so. City has.
 

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The idea that they'll "get bored" and abandon the club is ridiculous.
im not sure any of us can pretend to understand what it’s like to be that rich to be fair.

Rich people do all sorts of things that don’t make sense to the rest of us.

On that basis I don’t think we can really speculate on their motivations when they eventually leave, but one day they will, forever is a long time my friend.
 

Thunderhead

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im not sure any of us can pretend to understand what it’s like to be that rich to be fair.

Rich people do all sorts of things that don’t make sense to the rest of us.

On that basis I don’t think we can really speculate on their motivations when they eventually leave, but one day they will, forever is a long time my friend.

Oh there is no doubt they will eventually sell up, they've already started selling % in the club to different investors, they're diversifying into loads of different arena's as they're bright enough to know the oil money won't last but they're not h just going to turn the tap off and walk away which is what you appear to be implying
 

BlackBinBag

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Guardiola already is the SAF/Klopp of City. That's key to how sucessful they are. United has the money to be at least as sucessful as City, but haven't managed to find the magical combination of players and coach to do so. City has.

Nobody can match City's spending so the route to other clubs buying their way to success is closed. The alternative is to find a SAF or Klopp who can achieve success whilst working to the confines of the clubs financial situation.

The recent success of Pep's tenure at City has been mainly due to the fact that there aren't any managers like Klopp in the PL. The other clubs in the top 6 are the weakest they've been in a long time. Chelsea, Arsenal & Utd have all gone into the season with managers with little top level experience. Spurs have a manager that's past his best. Liverpool have been beset with an injury crisis.
 
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McTerminator

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Oh there is no doubt they will eventually sell up, they've already started selling % in the club to different investors, they're diversifying into loads of different arena's as they're bright enough to know the oil money won't last but they're not h just going to turn the tap off and walk away which is what you appear to be implying
I think you’re missing the point of my original posts.

I was basically agreeing that even if the sheiks “turned the tap off” and walked away I think City are reaching the point of self sustainability so would survive quite happily without him (clearly not at the height you are now but I wouldn’t expect you to fall out of the top 6 like we did after SAF!)

as for whether they would just turn it off and walk away... probably not in my lifetime, but it really doesn’t matter to me either way. City are a force now with or without their owners, whether United fans such as myself like it or not.

Just to prove I’m still a red, you’d never have gotten to this point without those owners though! (I think we can agree on that one)
 
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