Manchester City’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, has made it clear that the next manager of the club, is expected to win five trophies in the next five years.
The Spaniard stated that the general feeling within the club, was that they underachieved last season, as they failed to lift a single trophy, losing to Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup final.
Malaga’s Manuel Pellegrini has been linked with the hot seat at the Etihad, after Roberto Mancini was fired with two games to go and Soriano revealed the club’s short-term objectives.
“I think that next season is going to be much better. I am convinced about that,” Soriano said. “It doesn’t mean we are going to win one or two titles but in the grand scheme of things, if we look at the next five years and I could plan now, I would say I want to win five trophies in the next five years.
“That may mean we win no trophy one year and two in another but on average I want one title a year. That includes the Champions League, the Premier League or the FA Cup. Is it a realistic aim? I think it is, yes, but I am talking about five years.
“If next year we don’t win but progress our football and get to the semi-finals of the Champions League, finish second in the Premier League and lose the FA Cup final again that will be fine.
“What we are asking the new manager to do is build a squad but also a football concept and a way of working that will last for the next 10 years. The manager has a shorter span [than that]. We are asking the manager to win this season, next season and every Sunday.”
Speaking about the decision to sack Mancini, he said: “This was a long-term decision taken with a lot of careful analysis,” Soriano said. “We would never fire or change the manager over one or two results. Once you go down the path of change you have to be very sure. Roberto Mancini did very good for the club. He changed the mentality from a club that was not winning to a winning club and that is very hard.
“In the last year I think it’s fair to say that our football did not progress or evolve as we hoped. If you play good football you will win and we have a fantastic squad.
“The squad we have is capable of winning the Premier League and is not a squad that should be kicked out at the first group stage of the Champions League. You know, these things can happen – this is football and we all understand football. But we have better players than that.”
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