IT’S easy to criticise Manchester City at the moment.
The Eastlands club have spent close to £200million and counting since the arrival of the Abu Dhaby Group, an astonishing amount at any time but in the midst of the biggest financial crisis since the Wall Street Crash, a positively obscene total.
City’s attitude in their transfer dealings have won them few friends with the petty Carlos Tevez poster campaign the most obvious example of a distinct lack of class.
Many have questioned the logic of City’s signings this summer, with could cause.
For example, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz look too similar to play together while it’s hard to see how Mark Hughes can get Robinho, Adebayor, Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Stephen Ireland and Gareth Barry into the same side, let alone a cohesive unit.
After all, ultimately City can only play 11 players at any one time.
Therefore it is tempting to ask what transfer strategy, if any, are City following.
On the other hand there does seem to be a logic of sorts to City’s astonishing spending spree.
For example, the signing of Gareth Barry, has added steel to a midfield that frequently looked brittle on the road last season. But perhaps just as importantly his signing substantially weakens an Aston Villa side who will be competing with the Eastlands outfit.
The same logic applies in their pursuit of Joleon Lescott, another star player in a top-six side and the hugely ambitious if ultimately fruitless bid to sign Chelsea captain John Terry.
But it is perhaps the signing of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from Arsenal that reveals City’s strategy best. Few would doubt that City paid over the odds on the duo but City will feel that if they beat Arsenal to a top four spot this season it will be money well spent.
And here’s the key point: City’s wealth is such that they can afford to let players like Adebayor and Santa Cruz on the bench.
They may not score for them but they certainly won’t be scoring for anyone else.
Thus it seems a key part of City’s strategy is based not merely on strengthening their own team but on weakening that of their direct rivals.
As Gore Vidal once said: “It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.’’
It’s a similar sort of tactic to that being pursued by Real Madrid, a tactic that only the ludicrously rich or reckless can pursue.
Time will tell if it will be a success.
