'A season to learn from for Manchester City': James Cooper reflects on Khaldoon Al Mubarak's interview
Thursday 11 June 2015 18:05, UK
Sky Sports News HQ reporter James Cooper reflects on Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak's interview with City TV.
Not so much a season to forget for Manchester City but certainly one to learn from and build upon, although there was no denying the disappointment in the eyes of their chairman as he spoke to the club's in-house TV station about a campaign that failed to add to the trophy case at the Etihad Stadium.
A year ago City had just paraded the Premier League trophy and League Cup back in Abu Dhabi, the home of the club's owner Sheikh Mansour now he's poised to dig deep again to fund a summer transfer strategy designed to ensure the club's firing properly on all four fronts next season.
Khaldoon Al Mubarak's words come hot on the heels of his Annual Review with manager Manuel Pellegrini, Footballl Director Txiki Begiristain and CEO Ferran Sorriano, but clearly a second-placed Premier League finish and last-16 exit in the Champions League wasn't good enough.
"I want the disappointment of last year behind me, behind us all," said Al Mubarak.
"We have all turned the page. The energy right now is positive, the energy towards getting back on track, winning that Premier League and getting a better performance in the Champions League. This is absolutely what is driving all of us right now.
"If you had said to me seven years ago that in seven years we will end the season second in the Premier League, we will be exiting the Champions League in the round of 16, losing to Barcelona, and that we would be extremely disappointed by that - I think this is a testament to how far we have gone.
"This is how far this organisation has gone. This is how far we have gone as a group as a whole, from fans to ownership to management to players. The expectations are now where they are and where they should be."
So what now for Manchester City? Al Mubarak talks about giving Pellegrini the squad he needs and that revolves around a core group of players he refers to as the "nucleus".
The City chairman singled out Golden Glove winner Joe Hart for special praise after 14 clean sheets last term, adding that David Silva's talents were "intangible" and that he's keen to build the sort of squad around the Premier League's Golden Boot winner, Sergio Aguero, that will elevate him to the same levels as modern greats such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Among the important players complementing that core are Yaya Toure, who now seems destined to remain for another season on the blue side of Manchester, fans' favourite Pablo Zabaleta, Fernandinho and Martin Demichelis.
"But the future doesn't look quite so rosy for other members of Pellegrini's squad, referred to by Al Mubarak as "players who have served us well".
Expectations
The expectations for the final season of Pellegrini's contract with Manchester City are quite simple.
Al Mubarak said: "We want a squad that is able and has the capability and quality to win the Premier League, compete and win the Champions League, compete and be able to go all the way in two cup competitions in England. I think you will see some changes.
"You will see some players who have served us well and maybe it is time for them to move to their next challenge, and you will see us in the market bringing high-quality individuals that fit within what we are aspiring to coming in this summer. I can assure you the squad will be stronger, the team will be more competitive. I am both confident and excited about what is coming next year."
Last summer the restrictions of Financial Fair Play meant that Manchester City's hands were somewhat tied in the transfer window. Those constraints have now been relaxed and the club might well be in a position later this year to announce their first profits since Sheikh Mansour's takeover in 2008.
Before that they're preparing to spend big again on "high-quality individuals" as their Champions League squad returns to the full 25-man complement, but also to make up for the homegrown shortfall brought about by recent departures - James Milner, Dedryk Boyata, Micah Richards, Scott Sinclair and Frank Lampard.
Pellegrini's mantra throughout recent times has been an insistence on bringing in quality and while Al Mubarak heaped praise on the club's Academy set-up, now housed in perhaps the world's finest training facility, he also admitted the pipeline is still "progressing" and that the first team will not be "compromised".
Major investment
This points towards major investment in players this summer designed to strengthen City's squad and also refresh it, but their chairman believes success and infrastructure puts Manchester City on a similar footing to some of the world's true footballing super-powers.
He said: "We have gone from a club that was making promises of a future from a very low standpoint and therefore struggling to attract the quality of the players we would have aspired to. We were at a point having to pay big premiums in order to attract the type of players we wanted to attract. Today I think we are in a different position.
"We are a club players want to come and play for. We are an institution today. We can compete head to head with all the top clubs and players look at the track record of Manchester City over the last couple of years, look at the City Football Academy, the facilities we have, the infrastructure we have, look at the people we have in terms of management and coaches, look at the environment we have created here in Manchester. We have a very attractive proposition."
So Al Mubarak's words effectively draw a line on last season whilst also providing something of a mission statement for the times ahead as Pellegrini looks forward to a transfer window in which City can truly flex their muscles and give him a squad of players he can be fairly judged upon.
The focus also shifts to one of the club's most popular employees, Football Director Txiki Begiristain, who's about to embark on the sixth transfer window of his time at Manchester City. His role is to identify and agree on transfer targets before trying to bring them in and a look at his record so far perhaps demonstrates how difficult it is to offload players on big salaries and long-term contracts.
Manchester City have their targets in place for the summer and have made their intentions for the season ahead plain for all to see. It promises to be a transfer window which sees their rivals locally and nationally strengthen their hands but one thing's certain, Al Mubarak will not be expecting to voice his disappointment again this time next year.
