Klopp, Mourinho in Rant Mode over Man City's Appeal Win
When viewed in the harsh light of cold reality, this is just another classic case of big brands getting PO'd at another big brand for buying justice.
Almost two years ago, Manchester City had seemingly been caught red-handed by the German magazine Der Spiegel for not just bending but obliterating the UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules that attempt to provide capping costs for player acquisitions and other team assets.
Kinda like ...
- Elton John did with his hometown Watford Hornets back in the day,
- Germany's RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim did over the last decade, and, well ...
- Manchester City allegedly did.
City was confident of a verdict in their favor. After all, dudes took on Europe's Court of Arbitration for sport once before and wound up grinding UEFA's £49million for FFP breaches down to a mere £16million back in 2014.
Because the Citizens are owned by none other than Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan -- brother to the United Arab Emirates' head honcho -- mere is an accurate term for £16million.
Which is why City's beatdown of the CAS ruling concerns other big-brands.
But it can.
There might still be a few toppa-the-demographic millennials who remember when sports teams on all continents were just baubles like third wives to kajillionaires who figured that if they could succeed in, say, selling plumbing supplies, then they could succeed in running a pro sports franchise.
Such logic didn't always ring true and still doesn't. Look no further than Paris St-Germain or, in North America, the Los Angeles Angels to understand that.
But others had a clue, hired smart, let them run the show, and big-brand franchises entered a new era, as in:
- Rising the value of virtually all the involved franchises, but
- Deciding to keep more of the subsequent revenue increases to themselves.
Managers like José Mourinho and Jürgen Klopp aren't necessarily that philosophical.
They're just seeing the path that lies ahead: Ultra-dosh.
- Mourinho is convinced this verdict put paid to the FFP act.
- Klopp is concerned that it'll open the door to a breakaway league for the world's richest owners.
They may both be right. They also kept firing salvos, sublty in Klopp's case with Mourinho wondering what just happened:
Looks like the immediate impact of the ruling is manager Pep Guardiola might stay put, and the chances of Kevin de Bruyne doing the same went from zero to quite possible.
Others such as John Stones were already down the road a 'ways while City was awaiting the ruling. Reeling them back might be too much of a chore.
Still, it won't be an issue for City to reload. Wads of dosh makes it easier, and it the club opts to regain the Premiership title by going bigger ticket, then Mourinho's gonna be right. Anything but unlimited funds may not be enough to keep up with them.