‘Man City’s transfer success scares rivals’ – Blues make no apologies for spending big, says Goater

BetOdds Transfers Manchester City Premier League

The former Blues striker hopes that, with the club having been cleared of any FFP wrongdoing, there will be more arrivals to come this summer

Manchester City should make no apologies for having spent big during Sheikh Mansour’s ownership, says Shaun Goater, with plenty of others clubs having done likewise but not found as much value for money.

The Blues have been thrust back under the microscope in 2019-20.

They were stung with a two-year ban from European competition at one stage over alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, but saw those sanctions lifted on appeal.

Pep Guardiola has been freed to dip back into the transfer market as a result, with deals tied up for Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake.

Goater sees nothing wrong with City making the most of the finances at their disposal, with those condemning the Blues merely “scared” by the success that has been enjoyed at the Etihad Stadium.

The former Blues striker told TEAMtalk: “City won this FFP court case a few weeks back and no-one can now say that what they have done in the last few years is wrong in any way.

“My take is that City has an investor who wants to improve his business and he is looking to do that by investing in the academy and buying players. Other clubs have always done this, whether it is Manchester United, Leeds or whoever it might have been in the past.

“Now, City has investors that have a lot of money and some of their rivals who have spent a lot of money themselves in the recent past don’t seem to like it.

“Manchester United have spent a lot of money on players in recent years and have not got to where they want to be, but the rest seem to be scared about Man City because they can spend big and get good players, but they should not apologise for that.”

Guardiola has wasted little time in addressing the supposed weaknesses in his squad, with the hope being that Netherlands international Ake will prove to be a suitable successor to former captain Vincent Kompany following his £40 million ($53m) arrival from Bournemouth.

Goater added: “City have had some problems in the centre-back position and that is an area Pep will have to sort out.

“He will want to get the right people in to solidify a partnership with Aymeric Laporte and that is a huge part of how they come back from their disappointments this season.

“We look at Liverpool and as soon as they solidified that central defensive position with Virgil van Dijk and their goalkeeper, everything clicked into place for them and suddenly they became a real force.

“City have tried John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi and they play well when they are there with Laporte, but they have not replaced Vincent Kompany and that is the one position you feel they needed to strengthen.

“If you have two centre-backs who thrive in keeping a clean sheet as well as playing out from the back, they will get back to winning titles very quickly. With what they have got going forward, this team does not need to be rebuilt, but just tweaked in certain areas.”

City surrendered the Premier League title to Liverpool in 2019-20, but they remain in the hunt for Champions League glory after seeing off Real Madrid in the last-16 to book their place in the quarter-finals of elite European competition.

2020-08-08 18:00:03

Comments

Send Your Comment

Download Application