Omar Berrada Athletic interview here:
‘Our so-called era of excess was investment. But City can be sustainable now’
By David Ornstein 49m ago 9
For a club who have spent more money on player transfers than any other in recent times, Manchester City are not readily associated with terms such as “prudent” or “sustainable”.
Since being taken over by Sheikh Mansour in 2008, no other club has posted a net outlay above £1 billion, fuelling persistent claims that City have bought their way to success.
But in the last three years, their investment has reduced. According to Transfermarkt, City’s expenditure is below that of Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, while Manchester United, Arsenal and Aston Villa all have a higher net spend than them.
After seeing a two-season European ban for breaching financial fair play rules overturned in July — and again failing in their mission to win the Champions League a month later — the notion that City might respond by breaking the bank on recruits did not materialise.
In came Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Ferran Torres for a little over £120 million combined, with Leroy Sane and Nicolas Otamendi heading out the door for the best part of £60 million.
The impact of COVID-19 was perhaps a contributing factor but it appears to represent a continuing shift away from the exorbitant sums that were committed previously, especially in preparation for — and following — the arrival of Pep Guardiola as manager in 2016.
Given Mansour’swealth, that trend could easily reverse at any moment and the fact City were heavily linked with a move for Lionel Messi this summer indicates their ability.
Yet Messi remained at Barcelona and defender Kalidou Koulibaly — another high-cost option — stayed with Napoli, so City will bid to regain the Premier League title they lost to Liverpool last season after winning the previous two and launch another tilt at continental glory having done their business in a relatively quiet and measured way.
In the first in-depth interview with a club official about their work in the window, chief football operations officer Omar Berrada insists that City are sticking to a clear plan.
“It’s undeniable there’s been a narrative of City spending their way to being successful,” Berrada tells The Athletic. “But our view is that it’s a lot more sophisticated than that.
“We’ve always said we want to run a financially sustainable club. I think the so-called era of excess was really about investment. There was an initial period of significant investment to elevate the squad, to be able to compete at the highest level. It has led us to a position where we can do that and also be financially sustainable.
“To give you an example, we have qualified for the Champions League 10 years in a row, so that brings you significant revenue, which then is reinvested into the team. We’ve been the most successful club at a domestic level over the past four or five years. That again brings additional revenue to the club and increases the revenue base over a long period, which allows us to continue investing in the squad.
City spent big in preparation for and after Guardiola’s 2016 appointment as manager (Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
“(In this market) we were prudent but efficient at the same time to bring in the players we wanted. We definitely think this crisis (pandemic) is temporary and we’ll emerge in a very strong position — but the overarching aim, outside of winning, is to be financially sustainable.
“We have tried to look for different ways to control costs while protecting the salaries of our employees. We haven’t put any of our colleagues on furlough or let anyone go because of this crisis, but we’ve had to balance that with the need to invest in the first team.”
The area in most need of strengthening was centre-back.
City captain Vincent Kompany’s exit in 2019 left a vacuum that was supposed to be filled by Aymeric Laporte, only for the Frenchman to seriously damage a knee last August. There was interest in Harry Maguire but he joined Manchester United from Leicester for £80 million, meaning City were short in that position until Dias and Ake arrived.
It proved costly as Guardiola’s men found themselves beaten to the title, surprisingly knocked out of the Champions League by Lyon at the quarter-final stage and eliminated from the FA Cup semi-finals by Arsenal, although they did emerge from 2019-20 with silverware having won the Carabao Cup for a third season running.
“One of our top players — and the only left-footed centre-back we had last season — getting a long-term injury is what really hurt us,” says Berrada. “In terms of Harry Maguire, we have shown very clearly over the last few seasons that we will only go for a transfer if we feel it is the right valuation. So we look at the player’s quality, age, experience, what he can bring to the team and then decide the correct valuation.
“If we feel it’s the right one, we will do it. If not, we will walk away from the deal and look for other candidates. But at the same time, if we walk away from a certain deal, it doesn’t mean we necessarily have to go for another player to fill that position. We will only get the players that we feel will improve our squad and make a significant contribution.
“In the case of Ruben Dias, he has been on our list for a long time. We always felt his valuation in previous seasons — and his buyout clause, which I think was €88 million — was too high. This year we were able to negotiate a deal with Benfica for a significantly lower amount and it also happened that they were interested in Nicolas Otamendi.”
When it is put to Berrada that Dias had a lower market value than what City spent, he counters: “I don’t think we overpaid for Dias at all. We looked at multiple candidates, top centre-backs in Europe, and this was by far the best valuation once you consider age, experience, current talent and future potential. He was by far our No 1 target in that sense. Some of the valuations we were given for other players were a lot higher.”
One of the options was Koulibaly, who is six years older than Dias and Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis reportedly wanted a fee of £80-90 million. Complicating the matter, City were reluctant to speak directly with De Laurentiis because of tension that stemmed from the Italian club selling Jorginho to Chelsea in 2018 when City thought they had him.
“The truth is we never were in negotiations with his club at all about him,” Berrada reveals. “It was very interesting to see the amount of noise that was coming out from certain media outlets and social media. I smiled because there were certain instances where people were reporting that the deal was agreed, done, about to happen, he was going to be announced in a few days, when we were never in touch at all with Napoli about him.
“He’s definitely a top, top player so some consideration was given to him, but really within some parameters that were very clear to us — and those parameters never came into play so he was never really considered in that sense.”
A player who would have been considered in every sense, were he available, is Messi. The 33-year-old’s desire to leave the Nou Camp raised the prospect of a reunion with Guardiola in Manchester. Barcelona refused to sanction his exit but the Argentinian’s contract is set to expire in June 2021, so he could sign for City then as a free agent.
“I can’t tell you how close it came more than what everybody saw in the media, in terms of Messi publicly stating his position,” says Berrada, himself a former executive at the La Liga club. “We weren’t involved in that story, it was between Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona.
The talk of Messi playing for rather than against City resumed this summer (Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
“Had it become a real possibility, we would have considered it. He is clearly the best player in the world so I think any club would love to have Messi in the team, but it didn’t happen.
“It was interesting to see all the speculation about him wanting to come to Manchester City. That is a testament to how far this club has come, the strong squad we have now and the top players in the world wanting to come and play for Pep and be a part of this team.
“We will see if it ever becomes a possibility. If he leaves Barcelona and should Messi become something that can be discussed, then we could potentially explore that option.”
How would that marry with City’s aims of becoming financially sustainable?
“There are very few players, maybe just Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, who can make a significant impact on the revenue side as well as the football side. With a player of Messi’s dimension, it can make a significant impact on the revenue side — to be able to sustain the investment of his wages — and help the team potentially reach further heights.
“So all of that is taken into consideration but clearly, we continue sticking to our position of wanting to be very, very successful on the pitch and in a financially stable manner.”
Pressed on why the market closed without City resolving their perceived weaknesses at left-back, Berrada discloses that the club’s primary decision-makers on recruitment — led by director of football Txiki Begiristain — “chose not to” bolster this part of the squad.
“We have two top players that can play there,” Berrada says. “Benjamin Mendy had multiple injuries that made the start of his career at the club difficult but he has come back quite strong. We are hoping for him to have an injury-free season and show his potential. We think he is a top left-back and hopefully, he will be able to demonstrate that throughout this season.
“Zinchenko has performed really well there, even though it is not a natural position for him. We have three other players that can play there: Joao Cancelo did it last season, Ake has already done it this season and with his national team, and Laporte can also perform in that position if we wanted to. So it’s a position that we feel is very well covered.”
Berrada was similarly confident about City’s attacking options, despite senior strikers Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus currently being sidelined through injury.
The on-field focus, Berrada outlines, is to reclaim the Premier League crown at the first time of asking and finally end that wait for European club football’s most coveted prize.
“By our level of expectations, last season was disappointing,” he says. “Our objective every single year is to win the Premier League and we believe this season we have the squad to do so. We’ve addressed some of the areas that needed addressing in the squad and I think we’re ready to go and challenge again for the Premier League and to win it.
Berrada, right, with Txiki Begiristain (Photo: Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
“Clearly winning the Champions League is one of our goals. We’re convinced we will win it and there will come a time when hopefully we will win it more than once in a short period of time. We believe we have the right manager, we have the right squad, we have the right supporting structure and we will win it, we will get there, that’s absolutely for sure.
“But we need to continue learning, competing with the top clubs and increasing our level of team and individual experience in that competition, so that when we do break the barrier of the semi-final and make it to the final over multiple years, then hopefully we will win it. As I said before, not just once but more than once. We have a very strong generation of players right now and we believe this is a generation that deserves to win it.”
If Guardiola is going to be the man who delivers those aims, he will have to do so this season or renew a contract that expires next summer. This is already the longest he has spent at one club in his managerial career and City’s wish is for the former Spain international to extend.
“It speaks as to how far the club has come that Pep has done his longest managerial tenure with us. That means that he is happy being here,” Berrada says. “He is comfortable here. Pep is the best manager in the world and we want him to stay.
“We will have a conversation with him at the right time and hope he does extend his stay because his contribution has been enormous and will be long-lasting. Those conversations will happen at the right time but our position is very clear: we do want him to stay.
“If there was a sense that we would need to start planning for succession, then we will do so, but our priority is doing what we can and speaking to him to make sure he feels comfortable and that all the circumstances are right for him to continue.”
