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Manchester City’s City Football Group is looking to add more clubs to its stable after completing a buyout of Serie B side Palermo this week.
The City Football Group’s model now encompasses 11 clubs with knowledge and technology sharing – along with pooling recruitment and scouting information – a key part of the model. And it shows no sign of slowing down.
City Group are working on a deal to add Brazilian second-tier club Bahia to their ranks and a source with knowledge of the acquisition market believes they are taking soundings about alternative clubs in the Netherlands after a move to take over NAC Breda fell through in April.
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The move for Palermo is a fascinating one. The club has fallen on tough times of late but was in the top division as recently as 2017 and earned promotion back to Serie B last season.
City Football Group has pledged to build a new training ground in Sicily and will offer resources to the club but will maintain a “hands off” approach to football matters. City Football Group director Alberto Galassi told reporters this week it was an “easy choice” as the Citizens look to plant a flag in all major football countries in Europe.
They will roll out a model in Italy that has been a success elsewhere and rival clubs are watching with interest.
One source told i: “What’s happening with the City Group must be ominous for their Premier League rivals. Everyone wants a multi-club model at the moment but there’s not many who have been able to do it as well as Manchester City.
“And you can see with the Julian Alvarez that they are becoming a huge presence in South America too.”
Newcastle target Brazil wonderkid
Newcastle have not given up on signing Brazilian wonderkid Angelo Gabriel, the Santos striker who made his first-team debut at just 15.
Angelo is a target for Barcelona, Liverpool and Real Madrid but Newcastle showed their hand when head of Recruitment Steve Nickson travelled to Sao Paulo to negotiate with Santos.
The club are understood to have spoken to Angelo’s advisor Marisa Alija to ascertain interest and a possible valuation. But an initial offer of £17million was turned down flat by Santos, who believe he could be worth double that.
Newcastle’s interest is a further sign of their willingness to mine the South American market, which Nickson has excellent knowledge of.
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Angelo would be regarded as one for the future and Newcastle may yet revisit their interest.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint Germain have opened ‘detailed’ talks with Newcastle target Hugo Ekitike.
Sporting director Antero Henrique spoke to his agent about how advanced a move to Newcastle was. The player’s representative communicated to Newcastle he needed ‘time’ to decide on his future last month, prompting the Magpies to continue their search elsewhere.
Shock at Huddersfield as Corberan resigns
Carlos Corberan shocked the Huddersfield Town hierarchy by quitting after talks on Wednesday night – just a few weeks after leading them to within a game of the Premier League.
Corberan is understood to have had reservations about the club’s policy this summer and told them he was “not the man to lead them forward” despite having worked for weeks on pre-season plans and recruitment. He has no alternative job lined up and leaves along with assistant coach Jorge Alarcon. The split has been described as “amicable”.
Corberan’s first-team coach Danny Schofield has been appointed as his successor in a sign that Huddersfield are putting ultimate faith in highly-rated head of football operations Leigh Bromby. The latter said Schofield had turned down a job at a “top division in Europe” to stay with Huddersfield.
And despite the shock, the club have probably earned the faith of their supporters by plotting their own path. Corberan’s appointment – and then sticking with him after finishing 20th in his first season – were not popular moves but paid off in the end.
Indeed owner Dean Hoyle said: “We need to have trust in what we have built at the Club and keep faith in what we collectively believe we can achieve through hard work and purpose.”
It may get worse before it gets better, though. Midfielder Lewis O’Brien is attracting interest from Nottingham Forest.
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