La Liga boss reveals invitation to Manchester City HQ from ‘angry’ Club chief

La Liga president Javier Tebas has revealed the moment he was invited to Manchester City’s HQ by an ‘angry’ Club CEO in Ferran Soriano.

Tebas has been a strong critic of Manchester City and their operations following the takeover of 2008 for a number of years, and has often claimed that the rise of the Premier League giants has had negative effects on his own division to compete in Europe.

On numerous occassions, comments from Javier Tebas have sparked angry reactions from Manchester City officials themselves, largely during moments when the La Liga boss has utilised the subject of ethnicity in his arguments.

Back in 2019, Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak hit back at Tebas for his use of the term ‘oil money’, as he said, “There’s something deeply wrong in bringing ethnicity into the conversation. This is just ugly. I think the way he is combining teams because of ethnicity. I find that very disturbing to be honest.

“He talks about how we distorted the market? There is a hypocrisy in this statement that is ironic. Number one, let’s look at the Spanish league, the time of breaking records on player acquisitions, I mean, who started that?

“There is a clear attack on the Premier League. Let’s not forget this is the best league in the world and there is no better testament to this statement where in the Champion League and Europa League you have four Premier League teams.

Al Mubarak closed at the time, “I know people don’t want to defend Manchester City – but for God’s sake start defending this league.”

Now, while speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London in recent days, Javier Tebas reaffirmed his belief that along with Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City have played a role in the distortion of football’s financial ecosystem in Europe.

Pointing towards the ongoing legal dispute between the Premier League and Manchester City after charges were made against the reigning Champions last month, Tebas stated his belief that how the division proceeds with this case would be critical to it’s future.

Tebas said, “This is linked to the reputation and credibility of the Premier League. Things like this have a big impact on sponsors, because reputation is paramount.”

The 60 year-old then recalled a visit to Manchester six years ago, when his criticism of Manchester City led to an invitation to the club’s headquarters by the Etihad Stadium from an ‘angry’ Ferran Soriano – the Etihad side’s CEO.

“I was at Soccer Ex in Manchester in 2017. When we had that event, I criticised PSG and Man City. I said City should be sanctioned by UEFA,” Tebas said. “Then I had a call from Ferran Soriano who was angry with me and asked me to come to City’s premises.”

“PSG and Man City were sanctioned by UEFA. Man City were banned from European competition. It was the Court of Arbitration for Sport that overruled and lifted the ban. That dates back to 2017 and we have still not moved on. The Premier League is the best competition in the world but it is important to manage its reputation in the economic sphere.

Javier Tebas closed on the matter, “If this had been dealt with earlier the Premier League would have had more credibility.”

Manchester City’s legal battle with the Premier League is not expected to be resolved at any stage in the immediate future, and some in the industry believe that it may take up to four years to resolve.

Leading sports lawyer hints at time frame for Manchester City case following Premier League charges

Desperate the severity of the matter, and the understandable concern amongst Manchester City supporters, the current understanding is that the dressing room atmosphere at the Etihad Stadium is calm after club executives addressed the players and senior staff following confirmation of the charges.

There is certainly a feeling of unity within Pep Guardiola’s squad at present, with everyone involved in the first-team operation solely focussed on the tasks and ambitions at hand this season.

City find themselves engaged in an intense Premier League title challenge with Arsenal, have an FA Cup quarter-final tie against Burnley on the horizon, and find themselves finely poised in the Champions League last-16 with the score at 1-1 heading into a second-leg against RB Leipzig.