Football as sport can be as rudimentary as someone kicking a ball into a net, but as a business it is a complicated web.
The emotional investment so many get from watching their team play is seized on by those in this world of capitalism, with fans being used to make money for others whose attachment is usually more financial than anything else; both sides, aligned at some point on a sliding scale between love and hate, need each other and want their team to do well but for different reasons. The two are intrinsically linked yet at the same time have at least some separation given the paths of Bob from Gorton and HRH Sheikh Mansour from Abu Dhabi do not readily cross.
So it is at Manchester City, where their Champions League and Treble win is, in a business sense, an impressive achievement set up by 15 years of investment and decision-making. Unless the Premier League charges are proven to pull the rug from the legitimacy of what the club have done, City are reaping the rewards of spending heavily enough and - more importantly - cleverly enough to vastly increase their chances of winning every competition they enter.
