Why tweets count as much as trophies in the push for global power
Commercial revolution at Manchester City aims to make them one of the most recognisable brands on planet football – as it's the only way they can compete
There really is no doubting how Manchester City have made themselves the model of the modern, outward-facing club. Yes, they have struggled in the Champions League over the past two seasons, but they were top of the league of websites for clubs competing in the 2011/12 competition, based on an independent assessment of usability, design and quality. Only Arsenal came close among English teams.
They have also been voted best football team in the world for the use of social media, second only to basketball's Los Angeles Lakers across all sports.
However, it is only when you consider the respective brand equity of the players at their disposal that it becomes clear what they are up against as they seek to plant a foot on three continents and tell the world what it means to be City, as their terrace song goes.
Wayne Rooney has 5.5 million Twitter followers and Javier Hernandez 1.3m, while the entire population of south-east Asia seems to hang on Shinji Kagawa's every word – even though he doesn't utter too many. City have one, perhaps two, global superstars – Sergio Aguero, with 3.3m Twitter followers, and David Silva, who doesn't tweet a lot, with 760,000 followers.
You might think such things don't matter as much as what happens on the field of play. Sir Alex Ferguson once said that he'd rather his players went down to a good library than tweet. But this is how a good club becomes a global club and why driving up Twitter followers matters more than you might think at City.
For their chief executive, Ferran Soriano, seeking to make good on the vast Abu Dhabi investment, only being one of the top six teams in the world will do. "Consumers in general are able to remember five or six brands in each category [of business] but not 20," he has said of his time turning Barcelona into the force they have become. "In 2003 [at Barcelona], we were running a very high risk of not being able to bridge the gap with the top clubs, and Barcelona remaining a small local brand."
But the task Soriano faces at City bears no resemblance to the one the then Manchester United chairman, Martin Edwards, undertook in 1992. Edwards hired Edward Freedman as head of merchandising and saw him drive the marketing juggernaut United became. There was no Financial Fair Play to restrain United then. FFP will hinder City and there is no Lionel Messi coming through for Soriano, as there was when he went to work in Catalunya.
Chelsea will vouch for how difficult it can be turning a wealthy benefactor's investment into the kind of global brand that persuaded Saudi Arabian telecoms firms and Japanese paint manufacturers to pay heavily for an association with Manchester United. Ten years after Roman Abramovich's arrival at Stamford Bridge, and despite winning three domestic titles and a European Cup, Chelsea still trail United for global reach.
All of which explains the commercial revolution – including the search for possible partner clubs – going on behind the scenes at City as they attempt to drive up the revenues in lightning fast time. The domestic potential is limited – over 70 per cent of the TV audience is overseas – so Soriano will do whatever it takes for City to command global recognition.
He tells a story of how a Japanese barman in Tokyo, hearing him talking in Catalan, approached him to say "watashi wa kaiin desu!" ("I am a member") and flashed his Barcelona membership card. This is the kind of recognition he wants to replicate at City.
He probably didn't bank on his first season in the job finding City so far behind United in the Premier League and Europe's best in the Champions League. City might yet win the FA Cup but there are only two trophies that matter.
It is easy to see why, for all the trouble he sometimes caused, Mario Balotelli was a player whom the City owner, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, genuinely liked to have at the Etihad – he brought attention to the club. It is partly for this reason that Barcelona are signing Neymar, and Edinson Cavani is so attractive to Soriano and City's director of football, Txiki Bergistain, who drives the transfer policy. These are players to make the world wake up to a club.
When United were making their giant strides across world football 20 years ago, Edwards could just have gone out and bought the equivalent of both.
But Soriano is operating in more straitened times and his task is infinitely more complicated. The subtitle of his management manual, which draws on his success at Barcelona is: "Goal: the ball doesn't go in by chance." Never has the mantra been more appropriate.
Manchester City told to spend big for Sevilla ace
Sevilla have told Manchester City they will have to pay at least £15m for midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia, according to reports from talkShiT.
The Premier League champions are believed to be interested in the 20-year-old, as manager Roberto Mancini prepares to overhaul his squad over the summer months.
A powerful central man is said to be on his list of priorities, a set of requirements matched by Kondgobia.
The Frenchman has been attracting much interest from across Europe thanks to a series of impressive performances in La Liga for the Andalusians
City are one of the parties monitoring the situation, and are rumoured to be willing spend big to secure a deal.
Kondogbia only signed for Sevilla last year and has a contract at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium which runs until 2016.
As a result, the Spaniards are demanding a high fee with the knowledge that they do not have to rush to sell.
Mancini is thought to be unconvinced by a number of his midfield options, including pre-season signings Jack Rodwell and Javi Garcia
As a result he could look to move the players on sooner rather than later.
The Italian has also been linked with a move for Celtic’s Victor Wanyama, who has been impressive for the Bhoys this season.
Mancini: Rodwell can be a star for Manchester City and England
The 21-year-old midfielder has struggled with injuries during his debut season at the Etihad Stadium, but the Italian says he can go on to excel for his club and internationally
Roberto Mancini believes Jack Rodwell is ready to become a star for both Manchester City and England after he marked his return during Sunday's 2-0 win over Chelsea.
The 21-year-old, who arrived from Everton for £12 million over the summer, has struggled to make a telling impact at the Etihad Stadium thus far due to a spate of injuries.
However, the Italian coach says he hopes the Southport-born youngster can now start to fulfil his potential having made an encouraging comeback against the Blues.
"We bought Jack [Rodwell] because we think he is a good player," he told reporters.
"He is young and it's clear he can improve, but this year he has been unlucky with three or four injuries in a row, which meant he couldn't train very well.
"But on Sunday I was happy for him because he deserved to have something special, and he played very well. He is young and has had some problems but we hope that we have resolved the source of this problem.
"It is important that he plays well for Manchester City, and at 21 he can have a big future both for us and for the national team.
"We need good energy in this moment, and work hard on the pitch. Afterwards, when we have improved, maybe we can play differently, but right now we need that energy."
Manchester City willing to take €8m hit on Nasri
The Premier League champions are ready to cut their losses on the former Arsenal man after manager Roberto Mancini questioned his attitude and commitment to the cause
Manchester City are willing to listen to offers for Samir Nasri this summer, Goal.com understands.
The Premier League champions value the Frenchman at around the £18 million mark and are ready to cash in on him if their asking price is met.
As revealed by Goal.com in December, Nasri is unsettled in Manchester and wants to leave the Premier League champions, with a return to London his preferred move.
Nasri joined City from Arsenal for around £25m in August 2011 but City are believed to be willing to sell the attacking midfielder at a considerable loss in order to clear his £175,000-a-week wages off the Etihad Stadium wage bill.
Interested clubs are set to be quoted a figure of around £18m for the 25-year-old in the forthcoming transfer window.
Manager Roberto Mancini used an interview with The Guardian last week to express his frustration with some of his players this season, name-checking Nasri and Joe Hart.
"I think Samir has fantastic qualities," Mancini said. "With his quality, he should always play well. Every game he could be the difference. A player of this quality could be one of the best players in Europe. But it's not happening.
"Sometimes a player thinks it's enough what they did the year before and doesn't understand that every day they should improve.
"If you are a top player you know you can improve until the last day of your career but sometimes you get players who think it is not important to work and this is their worst mistake.
"Samir can do better than this year. He is a top player but he has not been playing at his level.”
Mancini then added: "You win the title, then you think it's enough to play 50 per cent and you don't arrive the next year."
Nasri was considering his future even before Mancini's public attack but only a small elite of clubs have the financial power to offer the player an escape route from Manchester.
Goal.com revealed earlier this month that wealthy Monaco are keen to lure Nasri and his team-mate Carlos Tevez to France this summer.
The ambitious Ligue 2 leaders, who are expected to be promoted to Ligue 1, are bankrolled by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and are able to offer tax-free salaries in order to tempt top players to the principality.
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]Tottenham braced for massive Bale bids as Manchester City join race
Spurs will demand at least £50m for the in-form Welshman and increasingly feel they can keep the 23-year-old for another season, with Real Madrid still in pole position
Tottenham are braced for a summer battle to keep hold of Gareth Bale as Manchester City prepare to enter the race for the hottest property in Europe.
Spurs are increasingly confident they can keep Bale beyond the current season, assuming they qualify for the Champions League, with the 23-year-old's stunning recent form the main reason they are still in strong position to qualify for Europe's elite club competition.
Bale is the man of the moment having scored eight goals in his last six Spurs appearances and would now command a fee in excess of £50 million and the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich have been joined by City in the race for his signature.
But Spurs, who fought hard to secure a fee in excess of £30 million for Luka Modric last summer, will dismiss bids that do not match their valuation, which is rising by the week thanks to the Welshman's sensational displays.
The long-standing feeling at White Hart Lane is that Bale’s next club will be Real Madrid who have tried to sign the Welshman for the last two-and-a-half years and are understood to have already held talks with his representatives.
Real Madrid are one of the few clubs in world football who could afford Bale’s soaring price tag, but Goal.com understands Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is also pushing his board to make a move for the former Southampton man.
Mancini has previously expressed his admiration of Bale and would love to make the versatile forward his marquee summer signing, but the Italian’s own position at the Etihad Stadium is under threat.
City director of football Txiki Begiristain believes Bale will be too expensive for the Premier League champions and is instead lining up moves for the likes of Brazilian star Neymar or Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao.
Bale is under contract until 2016 after signing a four-year deal last summer and Spurs feel they have enough security to keep him for at least one more season, as long as they finish in the top four and the player does not push for a transfer in the same manner as Modric and Dimitar Berbatov have in recent years.
Bale has barely hidden his desire to one day test himself at one of the biggest clubs in the world and would prefer a move abroad, with Barcelona and Real Madrid long-term suitors and Cristiano Ronaldo his idol.
But he is thriving in the free role afforded him by his Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas and has been in the form of his life since the turn of the year. Tottenham staff consider Bale a model professional and feel he will strongly consider giving the club another year as the ‘main man’.
Bale joined Spurs from Southampton in 2007 and the Wales international had to wait 24 games to win a Premier League match.
Paris St-Germain are interested in signing Manchester United's £40m-rated striker Wayne Rooney. The French league leaders want to improve their attacking options and have identified 27-year-old Rooney as a potential target to partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Times
Everton face a battle to keep hold of 25-year-old midfielder Marouane Fellaini this summer after Real Madrid, Chelsea and both Manchester clubs expressed interest in the Belgian. DSSC
Former Real Madrid president Roman Calderon has said 28-year-old forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who has two-and-a-half years left to run on his current contract with the Spanish club, will make a decision about his future in the summer. talkSHIT
Barcelona striker David Villa could be on Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's radar again after the Catalan club admitted they would not keep the 31-year-old Spain international against his wishes. Metro
Manchester United could be set to make a move for Leicester City striker Jeffrey Schlupp after the powerful 20-year-old made a surprise appearance for Sir Alex Ferguson's reserves. Daily Mirror
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers is tracking Feyenoord's Stefan de Vrij and watched the 21-year-old centre-back in his side's 2-1 win against PSV Eindhoven on Sunday. The Sun
Tottenham winger Gareth Bale, 23, is set for talks with Real Madrid over a £40m move in the summer. Madrid would pay £30m up front with a further £10m over the next four years. Daily Star
Real Madrid are prepared to pay £70m to sign Bale, with ex-president Ramon Calderon saying: "Real Madrid is in a very healthy situation, so we would be in the position to sign him." talkSHIT
Norway striker John Carew, 33, has spoken of his shock at being signed by Inter Milan for the rest of the season. "I was not expecting this call, life is full of surprises," says the former West Ham player, who has not had a club since the summer. Gazzetta della Sport
Former Germany international Torsten Frings, 36, has announced his retirement from professional football. The midfielder, who had been playing in Canada with FC Toronto, said that his recovery from hip replacement surgery was taking too long for him to continue playing. Frankfurter Allgemeine
French midfielder Paul Pogba, 19, has pledged his future to Juventus following speculation in the Italian press of a move to another top European club. A representative of the former Manchester United player said: "Everyone at Juventus is helping him to grow and there are no signs that he will be saying farewell at the end of the season." Football Italia
Sunderland have banned winger James McClean, 23, from Twitter after another sectarian row on the social networking site. DSSC
Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup is set to snub Europe's top clubs this summer - with Real Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal all reported to be interested in the Dane - to stay with the League Cup winners. Daily Mirror
Swansea midfielder Leon Britton believes he can still play for England - at the age of 30. England manager Roy Hodgson watched Britton play for the Swans in their 5-0 Capital One Cup final win against Bradford. Daily Star
Football fans exiting Newcastle's St James' Park could be speeded on their way if plans to install slides outside the ground are approved. The company involved said the slides were intended "to inject some fun". 606 newsletter
