It is challenging to win four consecutive EPL matches, and achieved the feat of 'treble' last season. Now we are living in the 'age of Manchester City'.
Before becoming such a top team, Manchester City also had a difficult start. It was in 2008, the beginning of what is now Manchester City. The fate of the club changed when Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), took over Manchester City.
The huge power of "oil money" melted into Manchester City. Professional sports are money. Manchester City with money has exploded. The decisive power is to recruit the world's best players with oil money.
Who was the beginning? It was Hovinho, the first player Mansour recruited after coming to power. Manchester City's recruitment of Hovinho in 2008 was a shock. Why? There was a time when Hovinho was a highly anticipated striker, but it was because Real Madrid was the best team in the world.
He was 24 years old at the time. It made no sense for a player with a strong future to move from Real Madrid to a team of mid and low rank teams, just like that of the EPL. The impossibility has become a reality. It was the power of oil money.
At that time, Manchester City paid 35.2 million pounds (54 billion won), the highest fee ever paid in the EPL history, to recruit the striker from Real Madrid. This was the beginning of the greatest ever squad of the Manchester City dynasty.
At that time, the head of Manchester City was Mark Hughes. He, too, was surprised to see the signing of the j-hope as a miracle. He remembered like this.
"The club instructed me to make every attempt to recruit players. At that time, I heard from Real Madrid that I could recruit Hobby New. We made a tremendous effort to make that happen. I called the Real Madrid manager directly. Hobby New came. It was a crazy day. Hobby New crossed that line, it was a tremendous strategy, and it was the history of Manchester City. To be honest, Manchester City was in the middle and lower ranks at the time. I had to admit that Manchester City's offer was not an attractive offer. It would not have been a surprise to reject Manchester City."
Hughes also revealed an interesting anecdote about recruiting Hobby New. Coming to Manchester from Real Madrid is more likely to be considered "Manchester United" if you have common sense. At that time, Manchester United was an absolute team for England under manager Alex Ferguson.
As a result, there were rumors that when Hovinho actually moved to Manchester, he thought he was going to Manchester United. Here was Hughes' position on this rumor.
"There was a rumor that I thought Hovinho was signing for Manchester United. Maybe there is some truth to this rumor. I went out to meet Hovinho at the airport. Hovinho showed up, and obviously Hovinho didn't recognize me. Maybe Hovinho was expecting Sir Ferguson. He wanted to see Sir Ferguson. Hovinho would have been disappointed."
