Barclays Premier League 2009/10 - Transfers
Discussion of Player Signings Debate Focusing on Manchester City
Sep 12, 2009
Recent transfers by Manchester City, following their takeover by the rulers of Abu Dhabi, have been the subject of hot debate with some football officials claiming that it is unfair for a team to spend so much money in one go, City however are proving that injecting money into a football club does work. The rejuvenated Manchester City team are riding high in the Premier League and look set to do extremely well for the 2009/10 football season. Not only are Manchester City very strong defensively now but they have a formidable team in attack. Critics of this type of massive investment in the last two transfer windows however feel it unfair to other, less wealthy football clubs, to develop a team so quickly by this method.
Recent Signings by Manchester City
The summer of 2009 alone has seen Manchester City paying around £100m for: Adebayor, from the Gunners; defender Kolo Toure, another new signing from Arsenal and a member of their 2004 Premier League winning team; Gareth Barry from Aston Villa; Joleon Lescott from Everton; Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn; Stuart Taylor from Aston Villa; and Carlos Tevez from Manchester United.
The Development of Manchester City Football Club Since the Takeover by the Al-Nahyan Family
Arguably the world's richest football club at the moment, a great incentive for all new signings is the fact that Manchester City are at the very least doubling their previous salaries, together with individual performance related bonuses.
The Club was purchased last year by members of the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, the Al-Nahyans, who already own significant sporting interests worldwide.
Manchester City embarked on an ambitious spending spree in the Summer 2009 transfer window, paying out over £100 million in eight weeks and it will certainly be interesting to see how the new team performs and whether the transfer fees have been worth it. A brief listing of signings since last season include:
T Ben-Haim (from Chelsea, £3m)
Gláuber (from FC Nuremberg, undisc)
Jô (from CSKA Moscow, £19m)
V Kompany (from SV Hamburg, £7m)
Robinho (from Real Madrid, £32.5m)
S Wright-Phillips (from Chelsea, £8.5m)
S Given (from Newcastle, undisc)
DeJong (from Hamburg, undisc - believed to be £17m)
E Adebayor (from Arsenal, £25m)
K Toure (from Arsenal, £16m)
G Barry (from Aston Villa, £12m)
C Tevez (from Manchester Utd, £25m)
R Santa Cruz (from Blackburn, £16m)
J Lescott (from Everton, £22m)
S Taylor (from Aston Villa)
Certainly Premier League Supremo Richard Scudamore does not see Manchester City's signings as either unethical or a problem and has no plans to follow the UEFA lead in considering a cap on Football Clubs paying for transfers based on the club income rather than the owners. In a July interview with the Daily Telegraph referring to the growth of City Scudamore stated that all teams wanted to "acquire top talent, why should Manchester City be the one club singled out for not being allowed to do what professional football clubs have done for 110 years?"
For more statistics on Manchester City FC and also Manchester Utd see: Manchester Utd vs Manchester City
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