Manchester City director and chief executive to lead summer window with significant funds | OneFootball

Manchester City director of football Hugo Viana and chief executive Ferran Soriano, will provide significant funds for the summer transfer window regardless of who is in charge at managerial level next term.

There is growing concern over Pep Guardiola’s future at the club, more particularly about whether he will stay to see out his current contract, which expires in 2027, or leave at the end of the ongoing season. 

Nevertheless, Viana and Soriano – the brains behind City’s transfer strategy – are prepared to supply Guardiola or the next manager with plenty of resources to work with after a successful January transfer window. 

Last month, the eight-time Premier League champions signed Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi from Bournemouth and Crystal Palace respectively for a combined £84 million, which took City’s overall spending across the last 12 months to over £400 million.

Last summer, City signed the likes of Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki, who have both started life in England perfectly and have become two of Guardiola’s most influential players – accumulating 32 goal contributions for the Blues between them since their respective arrivals from AC Milan and Lyon. 

And although the Etihad Stadium side have worked to balance their net spend in recent years, according to Football Insider, their commercial success will allow them to spend big once more in the summer.

Whether that will be under Guardiola or someone else remains to be seen and according to City’s former financial advisor Stefan Borson, the club are still in the dark over the Catalan’s future as the conclusion of the season nears. 

As cited in the article, Borson has revealed that Manchester City bosses are still unaware as to whether Guardiola has made a decision over his future, although he did acknowledge that there have been several signs to suggest that he might be plotting an exit.

The 55-year-old, who has won 18 major titles at the Etihad Stadium, is due to enter the final 12 months of his contract in the summer and that has already seen the board start to explore potential replacements.

Guardiola’s decision on the final year of his current deal is due to come at the end of the season but a disappointing end to the campaign could see him make a U-turn and stay until the end of his contract, though the club are currently fighting on all fronts in all four competitions. 

The Abu-Dhabi owned club currently sit second in the Premier League behind leaders Arsenal, who lead by four points, while City are still in the FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and Carabao Cup, reaching the final of the latter where they will play Mikel Arteta’s side at Wembley on March 22. 

If Guardiola is to leave this summer, it would open the opportunity for City to bring former player and club legend Vincent Kompany into the dugout, while other interest points at Luis Enrique, Enzo Maresca and Xabi Alonso.