Finance guru: Man City takeover deal scrapped at 11th hour as ‘fans kicked off’
Man City parent organisation City Football Group’s failed bid to take over Dutch side NAC Breda shows the potential of fan power.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after the controversial buyout officially collapsed.
City Football Group (CFG) own 10 clubs worldwide and wanted to make Breda the 11th.
And NAC shareholders confirmed in an official statement on 23 March that they had green-lit a takeover bid from Abu Dhabi-backed conglomerate.
But as relayed by The Guardian last Friday (22 April), the deal was vetoed through the golden share mechanism at the very last minute.
Fans of the club were up in arms about the takeover and previously arranged for a banner to be displayed outside the Eithad Stadium in protest.
Plumley claims that the collapse of the deal at the 11th hour proves how much sway supporters have.
“You never know when you’re going to get negative press,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“But given the size of their network around the world, they will probably move on to the next target.
“On the other side of things, it shows how valuable a golden share veto can be.
“We thought the deal was rubber-stamped but they have activated this and now it isn’t happening after the fans kicked off about it.”
CFG lost £71million in 2020-21, according to their last set of accounts.
Man City meanwhile recorded a £2.4m profit over the same period.
In other news, pundit suggests Man City face “£40m-plus” blow after source’s Raheem Sterling update.