Man City owners close to signing player nicknamed ‘Baby Riquelme’

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Thanks to their multi-club structure which is inspiring more and more copycats, Man City’s owners are set to sign a player from Argentina who many think could be the next big thing.

Founded by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2013, City Football Group is now the go-to model for investors looking to launch a network encompassing more than one team.

City Football Group owns stakes in 12 clubs and has strategic partnerships with four more.

Man City are indisputably the mothership of the organisation, but the owners are spending billions on a new stadium for New York City and have invested sufficiently in Girona to get them into the Champions League.

For Man City themselves, the benefits of the multi-cub model are myriad but perhaps the most prominent example in recent years has been the capture of Savinho, a City Football Group success story.

The Brazilian attacker signed for City-owned Troyes for £10.5m in 2022 and spent last season on loan at City-owned Girona before moving to Man City for £31m in the summer.

The £41.5m they have spent in total on developing the 20-year-old now looks a bargain, with Savinho’s flair, dribbling and playmaking impressing supporters in his opening nine games for Man City.

Post-Brexit, the FA operates a points-based system for clubs to sign overseas players.

Savinho’s move from Brazil to Troyes in 2022 effectively allowed City Football Group to keep him in a holding pattern until he had amassed the necessary points – and experience – to join Man City.

Now, another rising star may be poised to make a similar journey.

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City Football Group to sign Argentine wonderkid

Iconic playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme was renowned for his goalscoring from midfield and technique, while he was unique for a world-class player in that he spend the majority of his career in Argentina.

A bona fide Boca Juniors legend, he won three Copa Libertadores with the club, as well as five league titles. In Europe, he played for Barcelona and Villareal.

He is now president of Boca Juniors, where he has been involved in the development of one Luka Andrade.

Dubbed ‘Baby Riquelme’ by media in his home country, 17-year-old Andrade is now on the verge of signing for City Football Group from Boca.

According to Globo, Andrade will initially be loaned to City Football Group-owned Montevideo Torque, who play in the Argentine second division.

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The multi-club problem: Are UEFA and FIFA coming for Man City’s ownership model?

For all its merits, the multi-club model has many naysayers in both supporter and regulatory circles.

City Football Group failed in an attempt to take over Dutch side NAC Breda in 2022 because of a fan backlash, with concerns that they would lose their unique identity if subsumed by the network.

Regulators meanwhile are worried about potential conflicts of interest arising as a result of the increasing number of clubs with shares ownership.

Indeed, UEFA have given Girona a temporary reprieve to play alongside Man City in this season’s Champions League, but they will not be allowed to do the same from 2025-26.

FIFA have also stepped in to curb the power and agility of multi-club networks, limiting the number of intra-organisation loans that are permitted, for example.

And with over half of the clubs in the 2024-25 Champions League being members of multi-club structures, the issue will only spark more debate going forward.