30 October 2023 - 4:25 PM
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IMAGO | Viktor Tsygankov, David Lopez and Jude Bellingham during the match between Girona FC and Real Madrid
Profile: LaLiga’s unlikely pacesetters and the future of multiclub ownership
- With a modest stadium and a relatively brief history in top-flight football, Girona has emerged as an unlikely frontrunner in LaLiga, prompting a deep dive into their rapid rise.
- With ownership ties to Manchester City and City Football group their journey is not just a Cinderella story, but a case study on the changing landscape of football management.
- Why it matters: The club’s unexpected ascent throws the spotlight onto the mechanics of multiclub ownership, challenging longstanding hierarchies and raising pressing questions about the future of football governance.
- The perspective: Man City bought and immediately loaned back a player to Girona – effectively gifting the club a player it had sold. But City ultimately banked a 400 per cent ROI on a player that never got near the club.
Who said Spanish football was predictable?
LaLiga has been won by just three teams since 2004, but last Friday night, and more than a quarter of the way into the current campaign, a new club stood briefly and almost anomalously atop the Spanish top flight.
Girona FC have played just three seasons of top flight football, their home stadium, Montlivi, holds just 14,624 fans, and its wage cap is just one-fourteenth of its early title rivals, Real Madrid.
But w
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