Is City’s ‘chew them up and spit them out’ mentality sustainable?
Waking up on Tuesday morning the first football orientated news story that caught my gaze was that Manchester City were prepared to ‘offload’ striker Edin Dzeko in the summer. Slowly bestirring oneself from an eight-hour slumber the neurones whizzing around in my recently reanimated brain laboured hard to put together a feasible motive as to why a club would want to let a front man, with 18-goals to his name this season, leave. Using the term ‘offload’ makes it sound as if City are desperate to dispose of the Bosnian. More than likely it was his crimes against goalscoring that broke the camels back. In truth Dzeko has fluttered in and out form this season, failing to nail down a regular starting spot ahead of popular pair Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli. Even the nefarious Carlos Tevez has wormed his way back into the fold and now appears to be Roberto Mancini’s new sidekick as they chase a first Premier League title in City history.
However there is a deeper narrative to the news that Dzeko is will shortly be clearing out his locker at the Etihad Stadium and waving goodbye to the blue half of Manchester once the season reaches it’s climax. City’s frantic need to bring home a league title has seen them burn holes through many a chequebook over the last two or three seasons with players joining and leaving before they’ve even had time to unpack their suitcase. Dzeko cost them £27 million just over 18-months ago but the chances of recouping half of that amount appear to be slim. It’s a growing and unsustainable trend that could threaten City’s hopes of ever achieving their championship goal and making an impact in European competition. It could plunge them firmly in the red with the new Financial Fair Play rulings looming over the horizon.
I’ll try to avoid delving into the whole ‘Man City trying to buy the title is so unfair’ but in reality it actually is with it having a negative effect on other clubs around Europe. With a billionaire Sheik subsidising Mancini and predecessor Mark Hughes’ lavish thirst for expensive players they are constantly driving up the cost of transfer fee’s and wages forcing clubs to spend beyond their means in order to compete. City’s unlimited spending power puts their rivals under pressure to match up or settle for second best. With the new financial regulations coming into force next year clubs will only be permitted to record debt of upto £37.5 million over a two year period with the focus on eventually breaking even and operating within their profits in time for the 2014/15 campaign.
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But, with City’s penchant for spending colossal amounts of money in the transfer window their chances of complying with the new laws are slim. Their decision to dump Dzeko, inevitably incurring a massive loss on what they paid for him, is the latest in a long line of players that have been purchased at over inflated rates and sold at a deficit. Perhaps the worst examples of the clubs careless spending are strikers Emmanuel Adebayor, Jo, Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz who were purchased at a combined cost of £100 million. Jo eventually left on a free after scoring once in 21 league appearances following his £17.5 million move from CSKA Moscow. Santa Cruz joined for a similar amount from Blackburn in 2009 but went on to play 20 games finding the net just three times and hasn’t worn a City shirt for almost two years. Adebayor fared slightly better following his £25 million move from Arsenal with 19 goals in 45 appearances but his petulant behaviour towards Mancini saw him loaned out to Tottenham this season with a cut price summer move to White Hart Lane on the cards. Robinho joined Hughes’ revolution just after the Abu Dhabi group took control of City costing a hefty £32.5 million. He departed to AC Milan within two-years for half of what the club paid for him. Even big money buys like Gareth Barry, Joleon Lescott, James Milner and Kolo Toure won’t command half of the fee’s they were purchased for.
Add into that a hefty weight bill and substantial player bonuses and it starts to paint a picture as to why their negligent transfer strategy could potentially hinder the chances of glory in the future. With UEFA cracking down on clubs frittering away capital that they don’t possess City could face expulsion from the Champions League if their finances fail to abide by the new directives. Buying players and then discarding them once they fall out of favour or become alienated operates beyond the realms of prudence. It will never be sustainable in modern football environment that is entering a economic transition. In all honesty it’s absurd. No doubt costly acquisitions in the mould of Adebayor and Santa Cruz will make their way to the blue half of Manchester at the seasons conclusion and ultimately end up on the City scrapheap. The decision to get rid of Dzeko in the summer bears all the hallmarks of City’s ‘buy now ask questions later’ transfer blueprint.
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Thus the summer of lunacy has begun.
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