Kieran Maguire: ‘Very smart’ Dutch deal could spark flurry of new Man City signings from Europe
City Football Group can use their hub in Europe to bypass post-Brexit rules and also recruit South American talent for Man City.
That is the view of finance guru Kieran Maguire, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about CFG’s expanding presence on the continent.
The multi-club network’s European arm owns Belgian side Lommel SK, French outfit Troyes and Spanish club Girona as well as City in England.
The Sun reported last Monday (14 March) that CFG are now looking to add Dutch side NAC Breda to their stable of 11 clubs worldwide.
City and Breda already enjoy strong links, with the likes of Angelino and Manu Garcia joining the Eredivisie side on loan in recent years.
Maguire forecasts that CFG will continue to use their cluster of European clubs to help actively recruit players for the Manchester giants.
“City are aware that Europe is beneficial from two perspectives,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“First of all, it deals with the complications that have arisen in the post-Brexit environment.
“Secondly, it can help you recruit players from South America who don’t currently satisfy the UK’s point-based system.
“They are very smart with these deals. You can bring them to Europe and effectively have the players in a holding pattern.
“If NAC Breda are in the Europa League, participation in Uefa competitions is really good from a points point of view.
“That helps the long-term strategy of Man City in terms of being able to access as many players as possible from as wide a footprint as possible.”
City Football Group recorded a loss of £71million in their recent set of annual accounts.
Man City meanwhile are one of the only teams in Europe to have posted a profit, revealing a £2.4m surplus in February.
In other news, pundit claims Man City are trying to sign the “wrong” striker after Sky’s Harry Kane update.