Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano has hit back at claims his side’s success is completely down to money, claiming Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal have consistently spent more than them over the years.
Soriano was speaking to Movistar + in Spain after Pep Guardiola’s side reached the Champions League final last night with a 4-0 win over Real Madrid.
Two goals from Bernardo Silva, Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez secured a 5-1 win on aggregate over the reigning champions and took them to their second Champions League final in three years.
Winning UEFA’s top club competition has been the aim for Manchester City from day one but particularly since Guardiola’s arrival in 2016.
Big sums have been invested to give Guardiola a squad capable of doing so, with last summer seeing them go all out to secure Erling Haaland, the elite level striker that many believe is the missing piece.
That’s certainly appeared to be the case this season as he’s scored 52 goas in 49 games in all competitions for Manchester City, albeit with none of them coming in the semi-final against Real Madrid.
That deal, and all of the big moves which have happened at the Etihad over the last decade, would not have been possible without the backing of the club’s Abu Dhabi owners, but Soriano insists money is not the source of their success.
“The numbers thing is very easy,” he said.
“You have to look at player investment in England in the last few years and we are never the first. There are always clubs in England that invest more than us.
“Chelsea, Manchester United or Arsenal have invested more. That we invest a lot of money and that’s why we win is not true.”
The reality, though, despite Soriano, Guardiola and most Manchester City fans refusing to accept it, is very different.
While City were by no means a small club before their current owners arrived, there is no denying that their rise has been supercharged by the money put in by them.
That, of course, does not wipe out their success, but it’s an elephant in the room that Soriano and everyone else would be far better acknowledging than pretending it simply doesn’t exist.
Ferrán Soriano, CEO del @ManCityES:
"En los últimos años en Inglaterra nunca hemos sido el club que más dinero ha invertido: el Chelsea, el United o el Arsenal han invertido más"
"Esto de que ganamos porque hemos invertido mucho dinero no es verdad". #LaCasaDelFútbol #UCL pic.twitter.com/y0OW0D3TAk
— Fútbol en Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarFutbol) May 17, 2023
