When Manchester City won the English Premier League (EPL) back in 2012 it was their first league title in 44 years. City CEO Ferran Soriano was appointed in the summer of the same year and his vision for the club was to win five trophies in five years. In an interview with City Watch, Soriano outlined that he wants City to be the club of the future and the best team in football. In 2013, City were runners-up in the EPL, before going on to win the league title again in 2014 as well as the Capital One Cup. While not entirely achieving Soriano’s trophy goal, City have consistently been in the top three.
In 2014, City Football Group (CFG) was founded with the long-term vision of more than trophies. Soriano envisioned Manchester City as not just as a singular club, but a global brand, with franchise teams the world over. In the last few years, since Soriano’s appointment, CFG now own full or partial stakes in clubs on four continents and the contracts of 240 male professional players and two dozen female professionals. The global clubs are New York City FC in the MLS, Melbourne City FC in Australia, and Yokohama F Marinos in Japan. Their long-term vision is already coming to fruition through the building of state-of-the-art academies and training facilities across the world to train the next generation of players.
Expanding on marketing, the brand as a global franchise for both players and fans, and as part of Soriano’s vision for Manchester City, the club launched a new “Cityzens” platform. The aim is to improve interactions between clubs and fans throughout the world, by rewarding them for their loyalty and bringing them together to make their lives more enjoyable through football. Just like uniting their global teams under the Manchester City banner and colours, Cityzens enables the club to connect with its fans and better understand their needs. It also enables fans to have a closer and more meaningful connection with their club, and feel like they are an important part of it.
As part of their future vision CFG and Soriano have said they have already forged links in China. Chinese president Xi Jinping said he would like to create 50,000 soccer schools within 10 years and build 140,000 football pitches. Soriano’s vision is to teach soccer to millions of Chinese kids and tap into the vast Chinese market. CFG sold a 13% stake to state-backed Chinese investors valuing the company at £2.1 billion. Having an on-the-ground presence in growing football markets around the world has been a game changer for CFG and Manchester City in terms of brand exposure as well as investment. And it certainly helps that City are doing the business on the pitch, with the club’s reputation now reaching every continent.
After the clinching the Carabao Cup in February, Manchester City have the potential to win a total of three trophies this year and exceed Soriano’s visions. Having reached the quarterfinal stage in the Champions League, City are looking at a difficult away game against Liverpool in the 1st leg. At home, with the league title almost certainly in the bag, City have a game away against Everton coming up with football betting specialists bwin giving odds of 1.36 to City compared to 8.50 for Everton. Although City have only won one out of the last five meetings between the two teams (drawing three and losing one) the favourable odds are due to City being top of the league, and clear by 16 points, while Everton are ninth. City have also beaten Arsenal (twice), and Chelsea in the past four weeks. While Everton have won their past two games they have struggled against the top teams, losing to Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool in 2018.
If City continue their winning trend, and if CFG continue to successfully expand the brand, then Soriano’s long-term plans may well be completed in the near future.
