By David Gold
September 20 – Manchester City have unveiled plans to build a new academy complex which they hope will enable them to meet UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules and enable them to move towards a self-sufficient business model.
City have spent hundreds of millions of pounds under Sheikh Mansour since he bought the club in 2008 on new players and their wages, signing the likes of Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure.
The new academy will be based in the east of the city, not far from the Etihad Stadium where the first team plays, in order to inspire youngsters.
Planning permission was submitted for the 80 acre complex today, and the results of that submission will be known by the end of the year.
City hope that the new academy will provide a boost to the local area with 160 jobs during construction and another 90 thereafter.
Featuring 17 pitches as well as a stadium which will be able to seat 7,000 fans so that youngsters can experience the pressure of performing in front of supporters, the academy was designed after a detailed consultation.
The club looked at similar academies across the world, from rivals Manchester United to Barcelona, and it will be part of the new Etihad Campus which will be home to their training and administrative facilities as well.
It is also a key part of the club’s strategy to fall in line with UEFA’s new financial fair play rules which require teams competing in European competitions to break even in the long term.
Accounts will be analysed on a three year rolling basis, with this season the first taken into account, and UEFA will allow an overall loss of £40 million (€45 million/$63 million) over the first three year period.
City have attracted criticism after the signed a deal with Etihad earlier this summer to sponsor the club’s shirts and stadium, which was reportedly worth £400 million (€458 million/$626 million).
This deal was questioned by Premier League rivals including Arsenal and Liverpool, as the club’s owners have a number of links with Abu Dhabi, whose government owns Etihad Airlines.
With the Premier League side having made losses of £93 million (€106m / $146m) in 2008-9 and £121 million (€138 million/$189 million) the following season, and UEFA’s Financial Control Panel chairman Jean-Luc Dehaene having pledged to look into the deal, the pressure is on for City to find new revenue streams or reduce their spending.
The club’s plans echo those of Chelsea, who pledged to bring through one youngster into their first team every year from 2010.
When this ambition failed in its first year during last season, owner Roman Abramovich reached for his chequebook to fund the big money signings of Spanish forward Fernando Torres and Brazilian defender David Luiz.
City will be hoping that they have more success with their youth system, and will be optimistic as even before Sheikh Mansour’s takeover they had one of the most prolific academies in England, having brought through a number of players, including Joe Hart, Micah Richards and Nedum Onuoha, in recent years.
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