FC Copenhagen chairman Stale Solbakken suggests that Manchester City’s spending will ruin football.
“The amounts of money that have been mentioned are incredible,” Solbakken told Ekstra-Bladet.
“I think that such incredible sums will take part in destroying football.
“They are creating too big a mental distance between what we call reality and then Manchester City.”
The idea of City’s fiscal force frightens, but its tangible affect has been negligible.
City have not upset the competitive climate in the Premier League. They sit just 9th in the table, with 31 points from 25 matches, and that represents improvement from winning three of their last five in the league. Before they were flirting with relegation.
Aside from the odd Robinho, City have not fleeced the world’s biggest stars from their clubs. Kaka rejected triple his current salary. David Villa and Gigi Buffon turned down deals as well. The only financial flexing City have done thus far is overpaying for Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bridge.
City’s main hindrance signing players has been their perception as an unsuccessful club. This also seems to be their critics’ point of contention.
Manchester City are not deemed a threat because they distort financial reality. Clubs already do that. Nothing divides the gods from the clods in European football more than the Champions League.
There are also disparate television and merchandising deals on the continent. Barcelona and Real Madrid operate under different financial considerations than the rest of La Liga. Ditto for Bayern Munich in Germany and for AC Milan, Juventus and Inter in Serie A.
Spending obscene money disproportionately doesn’t bother football people. It’s the notion of an upstart Manchester City doing it that is the problem. Criticism of City is not censuring the rich, but the nouveau riche.
Perhaps, it’s not football that’s going to be destroyed, but a complacent aristocracy.
We aint ruining fook all, its just cos its City ppl r sayin that, Madrid bid in excess of 80 mill for Ronaldo inthe summer and no1 blinked an eye lid so stfu u idiots sayin these things.
Yes! They are trying to destroy the football. The way Abramovich spend in buying the player is destroying the football. But, now Manchester United boss have much more money than Abramovich. Look at the way they bid on the player like Kaka. I would like to give a respect to Kaka for not accepting the offer. He give the message to Manchester Ciy that they can’t buy anyone they like even they have lot of money!!!
Yeah haha we are destroying football, err we are the cause of third world poverty and hunger also Man City are the cause of the Middle East war errr earthquakes, Tsunami, blackholes and global warming anything else I have missed cause every pratt and his dog seem to have a say so nowadays?
What a total and utter prat along with you soccergoalx, is it city or united thats wrecking football come on lets get it right first shall we.
Your right Dave 100% no body opened there mouths when Ronaldo”divio” onhisarseeo was touted at £80 million.
No the problem is the so called big four in the prem and the big guns in the champions league don’t want someone else coming in knocking them further down the pecking order.
And has for Platini throwing his boring French patter into the mix, he didnt complain when he went to Juventus for a then club record fee and consiquently massive wages, so get off your soap box’s and watch the rise of the mighty Blue and White army
Soccergoalx – man you need to think before you type, that didnt even make sense. tu tun si unst
The key issue City have to address is to actually get one of the top world players to join them. Whilst Robinho may have the profile, he’s nowhere near the level of performance of Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney, Kaka, Xavi, Essien, Totti,Ibrahimovic etc.
The media are having a field day with City but essentially until someone of genuine world class signs for them for footballing reasons, rather than financial ones, then they can only try to improve gradually. The other factor City have to address is that every other club knows they have money so automatically inflate the asking prices for certain players. If they miss out on European competition, none of the top 40 players in the world are going to join them. And no, I don’t count Robinho as one of the top 40. Not consistent enough at all.
My only gripe with Manchester City is Gary Cook. Got a lot of time for City and their fans.
If it wasn’t Man City, no one would blink an eye at it. Like someone said, Real offered something like 80 Milion for Ronaldo this summer. No one said shit..because it was Real.
Man U unsettled Berbatov at Spurs and paid 30+ mil to secure his services. Besides Spurs, no one blinked an eye…business as usual.
The big fish routinely eat the little fish in the game of global football. Look at any league around world. Those with money and power buy up talent from the lesser teams. Bayern’s been signing the rest of the league’s top talent for years (Podolski, Klose are just recent examples)…same with Italian teams, and te English.
Now people are up in arms because a perennial lose has spending power. I hope Villa and City are able to upset the homogeneity of the top 4. Seeing the same 8 teams in the semis of the CL, and the same 2-3 teams gunning for the prem..well its boring.
I’m guilty of supporting the beast that is the Premier League // Champions League. I live in the US, and for whatever reason, when I got into footie, I followed England, and obviously the CHampions League, while neglecting the domestic league here (its crap though, come on).
city needed money 2 get good united liverpool n arsenal earnt there way there n how can u say citys beta when united have won 11 of the last seventeen titles n havent been out of the tp three wen city hav won none n been relegated