Finance guru shreds Man City owners as fans ‘furious’ over takeover statement
Man City parent company City Football Group run the risk of stripping some of their other clubs of their unique identities in the eyes of fans.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about CFG’s recent buyout of Dutch side NAC Breda.
Breda shareholders confirmed in an official statement on 23 March that they had green-lit a takeover bid from the Abu Dhabi-backed conglomerate.
But as relayed by the Manchester Evening News last Thursday (31 March), the move has sparked outrage among some of Breda’s bedrock fans.
A Breda-branded banner that read ‘stay out of our territory – NAC is not a City Group story’ appeared outside the Etihad Stadium earlier that week.
But Plumley argues that CFG will not have given much thought to the emotional impact of the takeover on Breda supporters.
“It’s a factor but I don’t know if City Football Group will consider it,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“These deals are done in the boardroom. Part of the problem is the discontent between supporters and boards, in some cases.
“What has happened at Breda is the shareholders have approved the takeover but the fans haven’t been consulted.
“From a fan point of view, it is a downside to the multi-club model because you probably do feel like you lose some of that identity.
“But the bigger issue is the wider disconnect between fans and boards in the game.
“The fans, or at least a section of them, are furious but that’s more of an issue for Breda than it is for City Football Group.”
CFG now own 11 football clubs worldwide, including five in Europe.
The group lost £71million in 2020-21, according to their last set of accounts.
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