No cause for alarm
Keith Wyness has told Manchester City supporters not to worry about the City Group selling their stake in Yokohama F. Marinos. The former Everton chief executive believes it is simply a case of trimming the portfolio.
The City Group recently sold their 20 per cent holding in the Japanese club to Nissan, following the sale of Indian side Mumbai City last December. They now hold stakes in 12 clubs worldwide, including Palermo and Girona.
Speaking on Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness was clear that there is no deeper meaning to the moves.
“There's no reason for concern at all. In terms of the Mumbai one, I spent some time over in India and saw the Mumbai set-up, and to be honest, Man City are best out of it.”
He pointed to the politics behind Japanese football as a possible factor in the Yokohama decision, but stressed the group remains sensible with its investments.
Smart pruning
Wyness described the sales as “understandable” and part of normal portfolio management rather than any wider shift in strategy.
“To me, it's portfolio management by the City Football Group, rather than anything else. I think it just makes sense; you can't keep on growing and growing. Sometimes you do have to prune back and look at new markets in different places.”
The group will maintain its connection with Yokohama even after the sale, something Wyness sees as a positive. He added that City have strong scouting networks in place in Japan and did not need to own the club to benefit from them.
“I've been watching it very closely, and it's been a fascinating experiment. It doesn't mean that there are any long-term issues in CFG; it just means occasionally some of the investments need to be re-looked at.”