Yet more evidence, should any be needed, of what a professionally run football club we are. This appointment could have been a minefield, with unhappy staff, press recriminations, everything. But Khaldoon, Txiki, Soriano et al have handled the whole thing with magnificent diplomacy and it reflects incredibly well on them all. They've obviously had a totally honest relationship with Pellegrini from the start, and that has reaped it's own reward now.
It is, of course, far from the first piece of evidence that we are run by serious players, guys who can see the critical path of each decision, and who instinctively understand that what comes around goes around, and therefore you should act with integrity. We got pretty much a clear run at all of our summer targets, didn't get in bidding wars and generally kept our council well. We obviously sewed up players and agents well ahead and were just left negotiating.
It's worth mentioning on this score that De Bruyne's agent came out and commented on how honest and transparent City had been right through the process. It's worth mentioning Delph's double U Turn, because somebody at MCFC left the door open after his first mind change, and that paid huge dividends.
There are of course, more obvious signs of our stature, like the CFG, the keeping-quiet of the Chinese deal, the behind-the-scenes FFP fight, the stadium expansion. But the little things like this keep coming to the surface now. The club is being run by serious players, capable movers and shakers, the kind of focussed, clever, subtle people who make the biggest businesses successful.
I've accused this club in the past of being a Ferrari driven by a teenager. Those days are well behind us now. We are the real deal from bottom to top and we represent Abu Dhabi perfectly, with dignity, style and class.
Money shouts, wealth whispers. Everything is in place.
