OpinionCatalan connection: Pep Guardiola, his brother and the Manchester City executives in the shadows at La Liga side Girona
City Football Group own over 40 per cent of the Spanish side but they still wear red and have not taken the name, unlike New York and Melbourne clubs
It’s the morning after Girona lost 4-1 to Real Madrid and Txiki Begiristain, Manchester City’s Sporting director and Pep Guardiola’s confidant, walks through the ancient heart of the beautiful Catalan city.
City’s links to Catalonia feature prominently in the new Amazon documentary All or Nothing. City’s injured players visit a clinic in Barcelona, Media Pro are production partners, Pep Guardiola is a proud Catalan and there are a several other Catalan officials including City’s chief executive Ferran Soriano. Sporting director Begiristain played for Barça. All recently invested in Manchester’s first Catalan restaurant. There was another angle less explored in the documentary.
A year ago, City Football Group announced that they’d acquired 44.3 per cent of La Liga side Girona FC, with Guardiola’s football agent brother Pere holding another 44.3 per cent and a fans’ group the rest.
It’s not a link either party likes to play up and Girona are keen to keep their independence and make sure that no party owns more than 50 per cent.
Girona have not taken the “City” name and wear red not blue. Girona benefit from using City’s training facilities during preseason, their recruitment, scouting and executive leadership, as well as loaning promising City players each year.