The City Football Group is a continually growing group of clubs with Manchester City at the forefront of the operations. CFG has brought ten clubs in different countries into the fold and Arsenal have already had the battle with the collective this summer.
Arsenal lost out to City in the race for Savio, who could then be loaned to Dutch side PSV to continue his development. However, CFG have now pounced on a former Arsenal coach to bring into the fold.
Arsene Wenger’s former right-hand man and ex-Arsenal under 23s coach Steve Bould will join Belgian side Lommel SK. Speaking with the deal confirmed, Bould thanks CFG for the opportunity.
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“I am delighted to join Lommel SK within the City Football Group and to work with such a talented group of players,” said Bould in a preliminary comment. "It's a great time to join the club and be part of an exciting journey in the years to come."
The lowly Belgian side finished sixth in 1B. The club had as many as five head coaches throughout the previous campaign including two English coaches, Liam Manning and Brian Eastick.
The concern for Mikel Arteta and Edu is that CFG continues to grow in size. Not just with a talent pool stretching across ten different sides, but now taking on potential coaches that could bring experience and know-how to the collective.
This ties in with Edu recently being willing to pay a fee to sign Sao Paulo winger Marquinhos. A club director explained how the deal would promote a partnership between the two sides for the future.
The Brazilian side’s technical director said, “ Edu Gaspar told us he knew that Marquinhos could leave for free, but that he would still seek resources to pay São Paulo because he wants to have a strong relationship with São Paulo in the future.”
This might seem small, but without the infrastructure that Man City have built, nor the interest of the owners to match it, establishing these relationships between sides will be imperative. Arteta spoke recently of ensuring a better partnership with training ground neighbours Watford.
"I think it's great. I think that relationship should be stronger and stronger and for example, Edu has done some work on that to build those relationships because we are close, I think we can help each other in many ways as well. I think it's a possible thing,” said Arteta ahead of the match between the pair in March.
With the speed and ferocity that the CFG is operating, Arsenal will always struggle to match their global efforts without mirroring a similar approach. However, building strong relationships with different sides is the next best thing to tackle the issue.
