After a disappointing campaign last year, City are going to recruit heavily this summer. Khaldoon al Mubarak delighted City fans in his club-exclusive interview by saying that City are ready to spend big as ‘star players want to join the club’. Most of what Mr Mubarak said was spot on and it appears that the club is going in the right direction under him. The task of buying City’s next set of world class players is something that will be taken care of by director of football Txiki Begiristain, who for some reason is a controversial figure amongst City supporters. He is someone who is often mocked on social media for supposedly making bad signings and lacking the swift urgency that City fans liked about Garry Cook. Some have even called for his head, but this view is narrow and it fails to look at the bigger picture. Txiki is one of the best directors of football in the game, his record speaks for itself, and you just have to look at what Barcelona have become in the 21st century to see how effective Begiristain and Soriano are as a pair. Some Barcelona fans have put the recent success of the team down to the foundations put in place by Begiristain, which suggests that he is pretty good at his job. He has done a stellar job so far at the Etihad: he has made good signings, turned a good profit, cut down the wage bill and overseen the instalment of the best academy in the country. People who are suggesting he should go are not seeing the bigger picture; City have a much more realistic and stable vision under Txiki compared to the gung-ho approach taken by Garry Cook.
Firstly, the instatement of the state-of-the-art academy has happened on the watch of Begiristain; about 5 years ago such a move was unimaginable but in trying to improve the image of the club a La Masia style academy was constructed in Manchester. The land around the Etihad stadium was removed of its toxic waste and the result after 3 years of building was a facility that can rival the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Firstly, if a couple of players come through this academy, it will save the club a lot of money. Jason Denayer for example has benefitted from the facilities and it is likely he will be a star player for the club in the future. In a market where David Luiz fetches a fee of £50 million having a home-grown player in the team will save the club money. The academy however is doing more than just helping the first team, the whole area of Manchester is benefitting. The area was horrendously run down for a long time and the academy is creating jobs and prosperity in an area that hasn’t seen it in quite some times. The Manchester Evening News estimated that the academy hotel created hundreds of jobs, which is no mean feat. The academy is producing local players too, such as Brandon Barker who is from the area.
Producing home grown talent is something that is very close to a football fans’ heart. Some say that the era of local schoolboys making it in the first team is dead, but under Begiristain such a dream can become a reality for people such as Barker. The academy will churn out multiple players, I really believe this. You only need one or two per generation to make it as first team regulars, and the rest can be sold on for profit – you only have to look at Arsenal to see how important this is. Only a few weeks ago Dedryck Boyata was sold for around £1.5 million; this will become the norm at City as players that don’t quite make it can just be sold on for profit. This is down to Begiristain, as he has helped shape the vision of Sheikh Mansour to make City a top club that produces talent from within.
The primary job of a director of football is to make signings, and Begiristain has been hugely successful here. Fernandinho, Martin Demichelis and Jesus Navas have all been superb signings for the club. They are all talented players in addition to being top professionals. Under Garry Cook certain players such as Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli had poor attitudes and a low amount of professionalism despite their talents; Begiristain has eradicated this from the club and there is a positive culture at the club now. Most importantly, his signings have all done well apart from Stevan Jovetic. Alvaro Negredo cooled off, but we have made a sizable profit on him which is impressive considering he is 29 years of age. Wilfried Bony performed well, Eliaquim Mangala has improved considerably and Bacary Sagna has been a warrior when he has played. Jovetic and Caballero have been disappointing, but there is no person in the world who will get every single signing right. City’s wage bill has decreased exponentially since the arrival of Begiristain and City are now much more financially sound due to not paying over the odds for players.
City fans need to be patient; the season doesn’t start for two months. Saying Begiristain should walk is naïve and harsh. He has done a really good job at the club and we are better off with him than someone like Garry Cook. The more measured approach in the transfer market will benefit us in the long run. There is no point rushing proceedings as you will end paying an extortionate fee, especially in the era of Financial Fair Play. Stand by Begiristain, the signings will come and City will be challenging again next year.
