By Chris Byfield
Published on 2024-01-14 16:16:42
Man City would have gone bust if they hadn’t sold one of their players.
Abu Dhabi’s riches and Pep Guardiola’s guidance have seen City become among the most successful clubs of the modern era, having won an FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League treble in the 2022/23 season.
But things at the club were significantly different before Sheikh Mansour’s 2008 takeover.
Stuart Pearce took over as City boss back in 2005 after impressing as caretaker manager, but his two-year spell came with several off-the-field issues.
The club were in such disarray that Pearce claimed that had they not sold Shaun Wright-Phillips at the time City may not have survived.
“I was acutely aware of the financial situation of the football club as in,…
