Man City's manager breaks his silence on Declan Rice's transfer refusal.
Declan Rice is expected to join Mikel Arteta's Arsenal from West Ham in a £105 million deal, despite Manchester City bidding for the England international.
Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has guaranteed that the champions will stick to their transfer policy, which saw them drop their interest in Declan Rice for £105 million.
Soriano underlined that the Blues will not be held hostage in their quest to bolster Pep Guardiola's all-conquering side, addressing at the unveiling of a new sponsorship contract with cryptocurrency giants OKX. He admitted that in the past, City had to spend a lot of money to reach the pinnacle of European football.
But, at the end of a week in which the Blues pulled out of a bidding war with Arsenal for Rice after West Ham rejected their £90 million approach for the England midfielder, the Etihad boss detailed how he now conducts business.
"If you look at what we did at the start of this project, there was a need for a lot of changes and investment - but not anymore," Soriano stated. Looking back over the last five years, our level of investment in new players has been well thought out.
"We are not the top net spenders in the last year, three, or five years." We have a platform where we know what we need to do and can do it in a timely and intelligent manner. When we don't like a bargain, we walk away without being concerned."
City's three-year agreement with OKX will see the company's name appear on the sleeve of the club's men's and women's uniforms, as well as training gear. City has become the first Premier League club to surpass the £700 million mark in annual income.
They won the Champions League, Premier League, and FA Cup, totaling well about £300 million in prize money. And, with fierce rival Manchester United's gross debts rising to £725 million, Soriano took a jab at teams that lurch from one crisis to the next.
In the decade after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, United has gone through five managers and spent more than £1.4 billion on transfers. And Soriano said, "How many coaches have we had in the last ten years?" Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola are the two. How many football directors are there? Txiki Begiristian is the first.
"Part of success is being consistent and resilient, as well as not panicking when we lose." I've seen that at City when I go to breakfast the morning after a loss, and it's like a funeral, and people are really pissed off.
"At that point, you must demonstrate resilience as well as the intelligence to recognize that 'today is not the day to make decisions.'" This is one of the reasons we've been so successful over the previous decade."
"Others make decisions based on emotions," Soriano added. We make deliberate decisions after careful consideration. We have a running joke in the group that 'no decisions on Mondays' since the outcome during the weekend may effect you.
"We can lose games - big games - and say we'll be sad and angry for 24 hours." But we have to come back in hour 25 and focus about the next game."
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