Ignore the noise! Maresca defiant as calls grow for City's owners to sell up
Manchester City responded to the storm in the strongest way possible on Sunday, thrashing Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield to maintain their perfect start to the season. But off the pitch, the calls for Sheikh Mansour's ownership to be scrutinised, and for the club to be sold, continue to grow louder.
Details: City were found guilty by an independent commission of systematically breaching the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-year period, using sham commercial deals to disguise owner funding in excess of £830 million. The club denies wrongdoing and has appealed, with a verdict expected by early February, but the possible punishments range from a record points deduction and relegation to a transfer embargo or a massive fine. The pressure on the ownership has intensified since the verdict. Jamie Carragher wrote in the Telegraph that 'the club can only heal and recover from the shame of their guilt once the custodians recognise they have failed in their duty and sell up', arguing the position of all executives involved is untenable. UAE expert Christopher M Davidson predicted to The Athletic that the Abu Dhabi ruling family feels 'embarrassed and disgraced' and would 'cut the losses' rather than allow the ownership to be 'forever tainted in England.' Others have pointed to the Independent Football Regulator, which has warned it has the power to force owners to sell. Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, however, has repeatedly insisted there is 'no intention to sell', valuing the City Football Group at $10 billion.
On the pitch, Enzo Maresca has made his strategy clear: ignore everything. After the emphatic win at Anfield, the head coach urged his players to keep responding with performances, and his message was backed by remarkable evidence of the bond between the squad and the ownership. A new chant in support of Sheikh Mansour has emerged among City supporters, underlining that large sections of the fanbase blame the Premier League's rules rather than the men who bankrolled the club's transformation since 2008. Former manager Pep Guardiola has also declared he is 'more than ever' behind the club, the owner and the chairman. The contrast inside English football could hardly be sharper: while rival fans and pundits demand expulsion and forced sales, City's own supporters, staff and former heroes are closing ranks around the Abu Dhabi regime that delivered eight league titles and a first Champions League crown.
It's worth noting that the man who would feel a forced sale most keenly is already speaking like a custodian of the club's future: Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he would be 'really concerned' to lose the Emirati owners, crediting them as 'a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester', and is set to publish details of his own meetings with the ownership amid scrutiny of his dealings with Abu Dhabi-backed businesses.
Reminder: Double jeopardy! UEFA closes in as City's nightmare deepens.
Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
