Micah Richards, ex defensa del Manchester City, he remembers in his column in the Daily Mail, the time when the club was bought by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, in which he was one of the players who were already in the squad. The former English international thus warns Newcastle and its fans how difficult it will be to become a champion team, despite having so much money. Here is an excerpt from the article.
“Alan (Shearer) personifies every Newcastle fan right now. The feeling of relief, the ability to dream again, everything has been unlocked by this new investment from Saudi Arabia. The landscape has changed. However, they should not believe that they are no longer facing any problems.
The first challenge is to gain credibility. I’m sure there are many fans who They believe that since they now have the funds to buy Messi, Mbappé and Neymar, they will buy them. It doesn’t work like that, far from it.
Let’s take Everton as an example. They have spent almost 600 million euros on players (with a net spend of practically 250 million), trying to be in the top four under owner Farhad Moshiri, but the biggest names they have managed to bring in are still Wayne Rooney and James Rodríguez.
That is why Robinho was so crucial for Manchester City in 2008. He was not the best signing of the Abu Dhabi era in terms of what he did on the field, although I am convinced that things would have been different if he had arrived a little later. But his arrival made people see us differently.
Suddenly we were able to attract players like Nigel de Jong, who was transformative. 12 months later we signed Carlos Tevez and Patrick Vieira, which normally would not have been within our means. You can talk about money, but that alone will not convince a player to sign for your team.
I imagine there is great excitement in the Newcastle dressing room for the possible journey they can take, but, and this is a brutal fact of life, many of those who are there now, thinking about the good times that come for the club, will not stay. I know what it is. How many of them would now enter the starting lineups of a Champions League team? There is your answer.
What will also change for Newcastle is how they are perceived by other clubs, almost overnight. People had a soft spot for City, but after 2008 everything changed. You have to face adversity and jealousy, and not just from rival fans.
We used to receive regular criticism from the players we faced during matches, they were desperate to downplay what we were doing. “You’d be in the Third Division without this fucking oil money“They told me many times.” You’re just a damn oil club! “and”There is only one real club in Manchester“were other frequent comments. Opponents will actually do anything to get into your head.