Manchester City > Real Madrid?

By Brian Lofrumento | 15th July 2009

Manchester City > Real Madrid? | read this item

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robinho-manchester-city Don’t let the title throw you off. Manchester City and Real Madrid only have one thing in common at the moment: money. It’s these two sides that are causing all of the shockwaves in the footballing world this summer, and big names aside, Manchester City appear to be coming up trumps.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Karim Benzema obviously make up the best summer swoop ever, but in terms of smart business and filling gaps, Real Madrid have come up slightly short. Sure, Real are building a team that Football Manager addicts could only dream of, but Florentino Perez is still falling down that slippery slope of all attack and no defense. Sorry, Raul Albiol.

Meanwhile, over in the rainy city of Manchester, Mark Hughes is finally beginning to turn Manchester City into a great squad. Yes, for all of the praise that I’m about to give him he still has his flaws. For one, his insistence on purchasing every striker in world football is a bit ridiculous, but besides all of that he is focusing on other areas of football.

The rumored pursuit of John Terry is what makes Manchester City’s summer plans far superior to those of Real Madrid. The transfer may not be set in stone and may not be happening at all, but City’s owners and staff are clearly in the right mindset. All egos aside, all muppetry put on hold, Manchester City have ensured that no Real Madrid blinders are in place.

When City’s wealthy owners purchased the club a year ago, the whole world brandished them as the new Galacticos. Robinho was supposed to start a new wave of superstars in the Premier League, but the club’s failure to lure in the rest of the world’s top talents quickly changed that philosophy.

It’s a good thing, too – think of the last Galacticos era. Zinedine Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo, and Raul were the names on the backs of kids all over the world. This was a team that could not lose, at least on paper. Instead, the project failed miserably as too many egos clashed and the defense couldn’t hold up. In fact, it all sounds eerily similar to Real’s current situation, and it’s no coincidence that the same man is behind the whole thing.

With the signing of Carlos Tevez complete and City’s strike force now an unnecessary eight, City’s next move is clearly a smart one (Adebayor’s imminent arrival aside, as his signing is quite brilliant). With the strike force set, the John Terry rumors quite clearly reveal that this summer is about building an entire squad.

By all means City is not going to be Premier League contenders with their current roster. Shay Given can only be superman for so long, and it’s going to take an organized and experienced back line and midfield to support him. The signing of Gareth Barry, while not quite as flashy as Real’s signing of Kaka, is just what the doctor ordered for the Citizens.

If City want to truly succeed it’ll take more of the same – fill the gaps that are there, and leave the working parts alone. Signing John Terry would be an astronomical step forward for the club that have forgotten the last time they’ve won a trophy, and Sparky could be on to something. Real Madrid should take notice…

Would John Terry bring City to that next level? Have your say in the comments section below!

Dani says:

July 15, 2009 at 11:05 am

Would you call winning the Champions League as well as La Liga titles a failure? The Galacticos turned into a mess when Beckham was signed.

Keep in mind that Barcelona was also signing many big name players at the time and the Spanish League was stronger than it is today with Valencia and La Coruna fighting for the title. So winning the league title was no easy feat.

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