A whole host of critics have simply put down Manchester City’s dominance of English football over the years only down to their major investment.
However, such discourse has clouded the reality around how Manchester City have been one of the most well-run clubs in Europe over a decade.
An assessment of their incomings and outgoings in 2022 alone speaks volumes about the club’s unrivalled business sense.
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With the signings of Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez and Stefan Ortega Moreno in the summer, whilst bringing in Julian Alvarez in January, the Premier League champions have splashed around the £120 million mark on new additions.
Despite making such major moves, the club sit behind the likes of Nottingham Forest, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal in terms of their transfer spend this term.
However, Pep Guardiola’s side have also made a number of astute sales that emphasise why their understanding of the transfer market is one of one.
With Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko deciding to join Arsenal, the Sky Blues took home a combined £75 million for the duo.
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Similarly, another key cog in their unstoppable winning machine in Raheem Sterling was sold for a £47.5 million fee to Chelsea.
The sales of prodigious youngsters such as Romeo Lavia, Gavin Bazunu, CJ Egan-Riley and Darko Gyabi have also brought in a combined figure of an initial £27.3 million.
While elsewhere, the highly-rated Pedro Porro joined Sporting CP on a permanent basis for £7 million.
If Manchester City’s sale of Ferran Torres to Barcelona in January is also taken into account, the club have surpassed the £166 million figure accrued by Chelsea in 2017 to raise record sales in English football.
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Keeping this in mind, club director Txiki Begiristain bit back at the club’s detractors in the fourth episode of the ‘Together: Champions Again!’ documentary.
The club's director of football explained, “People's perception is Manchester City are at the top of everything in terms of salaries, transfers, net spend.
"The truth is, we're not leading any list.”
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The Sky Blues' CFO Omar Berrada replied, “Literally. And we keep winning and we continue to play spectacular football.”
Txiki Begiristain also took a dig at some of the other European elite, as he continued, “In the end, what Manchester City keep doing is winning.
"Manchester United don't do it, Barça don't do it.”
Ultimately, the pair are correct in pointing out that despite the perception of Manchester City, it is impossible to argue with their success from both a sporting and a business viewpoint.
Topics: Manchester City, Manchester United, Premier League, Barcelona, Football
Srinivas Sadhanand