MANCHESTER, UK – Manchester City’s CEO Ferran Soriano has taken a swipe at Premier League rivals Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea, after suggestions that Manchester City reached the 2023 Champions League final purely based on finances.
The Blues beat Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-final second leg on Wednesday thanks to an outstanding display against the reigning European champions, with City overwhelming Carlo Ancelotti’s side for 90 minutes at the Etihad.
However, City’s domination over Madrid led to suggestions on social media that it is impossible for any side to compete with Pep Guardiola’s men given the resources for the state-backed club. The Independent’s Miguel Delaney tweeted after the game: “It has been an incredible level of superiority here but, to a large degree, an inevitable one. This is what the club project and European football has been building towards, never more financially staggered and vertically stretched, with state clubs at the top.”
But amid the discussion surrounding City’s spending, Soriano said the perception that the Premier League champions outspend their rivals is unfair. “Look, you only have to look at the investment in players in England in the last year, three years, five years… we are never the club spending the most on players,” he told Movistar.
“There are many other clubs investing more money than us – Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal. Saying that we’ve spent a lot of money and we won because of that is just not true.
“The Champions League is a bit symbolic,” Soriano added. “We work every day for the Premier League, it’s a very difficult tournament to win. If we do it this year, it will be the third in a row, five in six years.
“From my experience, I know that you cannot base all your strategy on winning the Champions League, because it depends on the draw, a bad day… but yes, when we win it, which we will do one day, it will be something symbolic.”
In addition, City have broken the record for the highest income on transfer fees in a single window in each of the last two summers, with Oleksandr Zinchenko, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus sold last year.
Source: Manchester World
