With billions invested, star-studded Manchester City somehow makes it work

The 40,392 who filled the lower two-thirds of the Benz, a large percentage dressed in Manchester City’s sky blue, were witness to the English club’s latest conquest. In the FIFA Club World Cup being held for the first time in the U.S., Manchester City squashed Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates 6-0 in a group-stage game that was a total mismatch.

Bloodthirsty Man City fans delighted in the carnage, filling the stadium with their roars. Their team pressed its massive talent advantage until the final whistle, scoring its final goal in the 89th minute, barely letting Al Ain possess the ball.

“The ball is too fast,” Al Ain midfielder Nassim Chadli said. “It’s crazy.”

It was a predictable result. Of the 18 players in the world with the highest market value (according to soccer website Transfermarkt), three are on the Manchester City roster, as are five of the top 39.

The most notable is Norwegian striker Erling Haaland. The ponytailed goal scorer, quite arguably one of the top five players in the world, buried a penalty kick for Man City’s third goal of the night. Another star, the Spaniard Rodri, might be the best midfielder in the world.

“Always, City has so many talented players and it’s such a pleasure to play,” Man City midfielder Nico González said. “They make everything easier. It’s amazing to play with such a good team, such incredible players.”

Since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE purchased the team in 2008, Man City has spent$3.3 billion on transfers since his takeover, according to a March report by Football Transfers.

Not only that, but Man City has not necessarily played by the rules regarding spending. The Premier League has charged the club with more than 100 breaches of financial fair play rules between 2009-18, including 35 instances of failing to cooperate with league investigations.

Essentially, clubs’ expenditures are allowed to equal expenses, meaning a team could be motivated to be creative in tabulating money coming in and out.

And, believe it or not, the clever ploy of stockpiling talent, hiring arguably the top manager in the world (Pep Guardiola) and allegedly engaging in shady bookkeeping, has paid off. Since the changeover, Manchester City has won eight Premier League championships, including four in row from 2021 to ’24, and a host of other trophies. Founded in 1880, it had finished first in the country’s top league only twice before that.

It’s as if the Pittsburgh Pirates turned into the Los Angeles Dodgers, if the Dodgers (allegedly) cooked the books and were owned by royalty.

Now who wouldn’t want to be a fan of a team like that?

Fans from far and near

Not a few soccer fans made that choice. Manchester City has the fifth-most social media followers of any soccer club in the world, according to Sports Illustrated. That includes 54 million followers on Facebook. The Falcons, Braves, Hawks and Atlanta United have a combined 6.6 million Facebook followers. A small fraction of them made their presence felt Sunday night.

“To be honest, I felt like we were playing at home,” said González, the Man City midfielder.

Who are these people?

As I roamed the MBS concourse before the game, I fully expected to be totally turned off by Man City fans, figuring they were the sort whose cars have bumper stickers touting allegiances to the Lakers, Cowboys and Yankees.

And there probably are some. But, not all so.

There was a family that came from Greenville, South Carolina, whose son became a fan of Man City because he liked Haaland. I met a man of Egyptian descent who supported the team because of its Egyptian star, Omar Marmoush. A young woman, Nina Cromer, told me she likes Man City because of defender Joško Gvardiol.

“I just think he’s hot,” she said.

Her friend Sam Hiteshew switched allegiances to Man City because of his affinity for Guardiola.

“Maybe a little bit; it doesn’t hurt that they win all the time,” Hiteshew said. “But for people who are true Man City fans, it’s deeper than that.”

Boyd Dyer is the somewhat rare supporter whose fandom precedes Mansour’s takeover. From Toronto, Dyer became a Man City fan through a friend. What was it like?

“Terrible,” he said. “We were terrible.”

Everything is different now. It’s like discovering a band before it hits it big, and then all of the sudden, everyone claims it.

“And now you’ve got to pay more to see them,” Dyer said.

Still, he’s happy. So happy, in fact, that he and his wife, Lisa, drove 14 hours from Toronto to watch Sunday night’s game, along with the Inter Miami-Porto game Thursday. It was his first time ever seeing his beloved Man City in person.

His beaming face indicated it was money well spent, a concept the team he supports has some familiarity with.