Bad news, Manchester City is afraid of being sanctioned by UEFA again, and will be expelled from the Champions League next year because of illegal operations
Recently, the good news for Manchester City has been one after another. First, the team won the Club World Cup to become a real six-time champion, then the team's central striker Haaland, who won the 2023 FIFA IFFHS Player of the Year, and even more gratifyingly, the core of the team, De Bruyne also returned from injury. Although Manchester City are currently third in the Premier League, they are only five points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand, which is clearly not an insurmountable gap for Pep Guardiola, who is good at taking the lead after the second half of the fixture.
However, just when Manchester City got rid of the decline at the beginning of the season and seemed to be about to sprint with all its might, a piece of news suddenly came out in various media, mentioning that Manchester City may be expelled from the Champions League next year even if it wins the championship this year due to the illegal operation of the boss behind the scenes.
This sensational remark immediately aroused the interest of the editor, and after reading it, I found that this is really not the title party.
These rumors point out that the behind-the-scenes owner of Manchester City is a city group from the United Arab Emirates, which currently has a number of clubs around the world with the football industry as its main business, in addition to Manchester City, like Sichuan Jiuniu, the top of the Chinese League this year, is also a member of the city group, and next season the Chinese Super League also has Manchester City's brother team. In addition to this, in the top five leagues, they also have a club, and that is Girona, who are currently at the top of the La Liga table.
This season, Girona can be described as a sudden leader, leading the league all the way, until recently, they were overtaken by Real Madrid. The two teams currently share the top of the table with 48 points, and are already 10 points ahead of Atletico Madrid, fifth in the league. Although it is difficult for Girona to win the La Liga title this year considering the thin squad of the Girona team, the advantage of 10 points at the halfway point is obviously a huge guarantee for them to participate in the Champions League next season.
As we all know, UEFA prohibits the same owner from owning two teams in order to avoid match-fixing, so once Girona reaches the Champions League, then one of Manchester City and Girona must be evicted, unless the city group transfers one of them.
However, even so, there are three reasons why this rule will not make it difficult for Manchester City to not participate in next season's Champions League.
First, Manchester City is currently the top club in terms of commercial value, and this year his revenue has even surpassed that of his fellow city brother Manchester United, and in the eyes of the City Group, if a club must be sacrificed, it is obvious that Girona will not be able to compare with Manchester City in the Premier League.
Second, City Group is not an ordinary local tyrant enterprise. Although they are backed by the UAE government, 77% of the shares are owned by the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund with the UAE royal family as the backing, but 13% are held by the Chinese culture behind the leading Chinese state-owned enterprises CITIC Group and the Shanghai municipal government, and even the remaining 10% is also the top US private equity capital Silver Lake Capital.
It can be said that the city group is currently the world's three major wealth gathering places, the Middle East, China, and the United States, even UEFA has to weigh itself, whether it can be their enemy.
Third, rules are dead, and people are alive. The city group can completely hand over it to an affiliated company that has no relationship on the surface through Girona's share holding, so as to circumvent the regulations.
Of course, it is not ruled out that UEFA will use this regulation to knock Manchester City at that time, and finally exchange for some investment commitments. All in all, the editor believes that even if UEFA lends a few guts, they will not dare to completely tear their faces with the city group and really expel Manchester City in the Champions League.