Ferran Soriano sends Club World Cup rallying call to Manchester City’s local fanbase | OneFootball

Manchester City chief executive officer Ferran Soriano has explained why the club’s participation in the FIFA Club World Cup does not come at the expense of their local fanbase.

City kicked off their Club World Cup campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win over Wydad AC on Wednesday as goals from Phil Foden and Jeremy Doku secured three points in Philadelphia, with Rico Lewis receiving a late red card.

Pep Guardiola’s side next face Al Ain on Sunday and can secure qualification to the knockout stages of the competition with a win – ahead of the final group-stage clash against Juventus later next week.

Guardiola gave new signings Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders full debuts a week into their arrival at the club, with Rayan Ait-Nouri on the bench and Marcus Bettinelli failing to make the matchday squad.

After a long-drawn and uncharacteristically trophyless season for Manchester City, the Club World Cup represents a perfect opportunity to restore confidence in the dressing room as Guardiola and co look to compete on all fronts next term.

City have spent close to £300 million on incomings since January and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has recently admitted to regrets at the club over not being as aggressive as they should have been last summer, in hindsight.

However, the past is the past and Manchester City are only looking ahead as they look to bring home the Club World Cup to kick off a new era, which has been marked by the notable departure of Kevin De Bruyne, who has joined Napoli on a two-year deal.

City’s participation in the Club World Cup and the expansion of their global brand has drawn criticism over the commercial nature of the tournament and how the club may be building a greater presence across the world at the expense of their roots.

“It’s very important to be here (in the United States for the Club World Cup) because we are a global football club. We have our roots and we are proud of them,” Soriano said, as quoted by Mail Sport’s Jack Gaughan.

“But you can be local and relevant and faithful to the history of the club and the fans that support you, but you can also be global and show what we do – which we believe is beautiful football – to the world.

“It’s a combination that works very well and we are proud. I think it (the Club World Cup) is a great initiative and we are very happy to be here.

‘We are very excited by this. I think it’s something that was very much needed, soccer is a global sport and we have to make it global.

“You have to have teams like Manchester City playing teams from Morocco, Korea or wherever. That’s part of the globalisation of the number one sport in the world.”