Manchester City, some say..is considered the richest football club in the world at the moment…in fact it IS…
Forget the Real Madrids, forget the Manchester Uniteds everybody, stand up and take notice…it is Manchester City!
How did the richest football club fare last season in the EPL with all that money and new signings?
A lowly 10th 
(won 15, drawn 5, lost “18″ & amassed only 50 points) 40 points less than the EPL winners, Man Utd! Also, outa those 15 wins, only 2 are away wins!!
Another interesting stat, they were the only team in the Premier League last season not to draw a single home game. They either won (13) or lost (6) at the City of Manchester Stadium. A respectable 6 losses at home but they thought they can do better than that away from home…so…they doubled it (12) Job well done lads!
Now..this is under the reign of Mark Hughes, the current manager..a Manchester “United” legend, an ever-learning premiership manager with decent managerial record (notably the 4 years at Blackburn Rovers).
Lets dig into their previous season, shall we? 2007/08: Man City under Sven-Göran Eriksson. His first signing was Italian striker Rolando Bianchi from Reggina for £8.8 million. Bianchi was soon joined at the club by Swiss Under-21 international Gelson Fernandes from Sion, Brazilian midfielder Geovanni from Cruzeiro, and Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov from Atlético Madrid. He also signed Croat Vedran Ćorluka from Dinamo Zagreb, Spaniard Javier Garrido from Real Sociedad and Brazilian Elano from Shakhtar Donetsk. All these signings they say Sven executed by looking at videotapes of the players! But they all clicked as a team…
They ended up 9th in the table, won more away games (4) , lost lesser games at home and away compared to last season (lost 4 at home and 9 away) and totaled 5 more points than last season (55). Now all that without the rich Sheikh and his moolah!
In the last game of the season, Manchester City suffered an 8–1 loss to Middlesbrough F.C.; the biggest defeat of Eriksson’s career…but..but…Eriksson became the first Manchester City manager since 1969-70 to win both league derby games against Manchester United and also achieved the joint highest Premier League point total in the club’s history!!
Quite notable feat..isn’t it compared to what Man City achieved last season? Man Utd did a double on them last season…returned the favor..u can say
Ok..the point in writing this blog wasn’t all these statistical stuff…I mean it was but there is a bigger topic to debate on when it comes to Man City’s fame…THE MONEY THEY HAVE…lets be frank here..that’s all they have at the moment.
Compared to Sven’s spending in his 1 year at helm, Mark Hughes doubled the money spent in his 1st season in charge.
£79.4m = Total Manchester City wage bill under Mark Hughes last season.
£45.3m = Spending on players’ salaries under Sven-Göran Eriksson in 2007-08.
£172.3m =Value of present squad at City of Manchester Stadium and still growing!
£66.4m = Estimated worth of the squad during the tenure of the former England head coach.
Lets have a look at that Super Rich squad now…..3 GKs (plus 1 on loan), 11 defenders, 12 mid-fielders and…and “10″ forwards!! I mean what are they trying to build here?? 10 strikers!! They are Valeri Bojinov, Robinho, Darius Vassell, Jô, Felipe Caicedo, Ched Evans, Benjani, Daniel Sturridge, Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz. No other top flight team in the world would have that many in their first team squad!
They have bought Gareth Barry for £12million and Stuart “Who is he” Taylor for £”God knows how much”million this season…Gareth Barry had quoted some time back that the only reason to quit Aston Villa was going in search of Champions League football, what was he thinking when he signed for City, money or ambition?? Or did he mistake Liverpool to City just like Robinho when he signed last season. Remember he mentioned in his first press conference that he was happy signing for Chelsea sitting in City’s press box!!
The mega bucks does the talking here…Robinho is the highest paid player in the EPL at £175,000 per week. Gareth will get a cool £100,000 per week…
Ok they claim that Richard Dunne, Michael Ball, Danny Mills, Dietmar Hamann, Darius Vassell, Benjani, Valeri Bojinov, Ched Evans, Felipe Caicedo, Tal Ben-Haim, Gelson Fernandes and Jô will all be allowed to leave, and if some clubs do buy all the strikers mentioned in this list (6 of them), it still doesn’t end there..Man City wants MORE strikers…
They have already signed Roque Santa Cruz for £18million and are plotting a £50million double swoop for Samuel Eto’o and Carlos Tévez. Wow! Who is playing in which position….?? Are all playing?? If so, that will be a treat for our eyes!
And more rumored links…no strikers this time..I know! You would be disappointed 
but read on anyways…
The Times reports that City are to lodge bids for Joleon Lescott and Kolo Toure next week.
The Express claims they want Inter right-back Maicon – and are willing to offer Elano plus £10m.
The Express also suggests that if City fail in their attempt to prize Lescott away from Everton they will try to sign Matthew Upson from West Ham, offering £15m plus Bojinov.
All these would be great buys and if these transfers do happen, they won’t come cheap..Astonishing!!!
Meanwhile, If the likes of Eto’o and Tévez don’t end up before the transfer window closes, don’t get disheartened City fans, I know exactly what the club should do…
Change their club name from Manchester City to “Man…We Got The Money But No One Wants To Play In This City” Yea!
On a more serious note..with all that money spent last season, nothing noticeable was achieved. They could not even qualify for Europa League. They did make an audacious £100 plus million bid for Kaká and failed! That was their reason to be in the spotlight during the Jan transfer window all the way till the end of season. Oh yes! the dreadful away form should not be forgotten.
City are again linked to ALL the STARS this season as well, but no major signings as yet. I am very anxiously and eagerly awaiting the start of the new season to see how City fare with all these buys. Whether Mark Hughes can fit all the players into his scheme of things and solve the jigsaw puzzle just in time to turn City into a serious title-challenging unit and venture into the uncharted “Top 4″ territory by the end of the season. This will definitely be the team to watch out for throughout the course of the upcoming season.
People say…Money Can’t buy Everything..I agree to that…definitely can’t build a top team overnight, it takes years…BUT..If you are a football player who still plays football (of course)..age no barrier..and you think you are a STAR in your own right but you think you are not even worth 50 Quids..get yourself an agent and mark yourself available in the global football transfer market before 31st August (Note – that’s when the transfer window officially closes) with a “willing to sign” smile on your face…I am pretty sure City will sign you for atleast a million Quids!!!
No offenses meant!
Signing off,
A Manchester United supporter
The Times also reports that City are to lodge bids for Joleon Lescott and Kolo Toure next week
The Express claims they want Inter right-back Maicon – and are willing to offer Elano plus £10m.
The Express also suggests that if City fail in their attempt to prize Lescott away from Everton they will try to sign Matthew Upson from West Ham, offering £15m plus Bojinov.
