Girona’s hopes of re-signing Manchester City stars effectively over as part of UEFA intervention | OneFootball

Earlier this month, Girona booked their place in next season’s Champions League, having secured a stunning 4-2 victory over Barcelona at Montilivi. The Catalan side can look forward to playing among Europe’s elite, although work has to be done before that officially becomes a reality.

As per AP (via Diario AS), UEFA have issued a document to Girona and also Manchester City in which several divestment solutions in regards to the governing body’s rules on club ownership. Notably, both sides are under the City Football Group, which owns 47% of Girona and 100% of Man City.

Girona must take steps to dissociate with Man City, and a deadline for the 3rd of June has been set. Two options have been presented by UEFA, which are as follows: City Football Group may sell its shares to an independent third party by reducing its shareholding in Girona to less than 30%, or by transferring all of the club’s shares to a blind trust overseen by a UEFA-appointed panel, the administrator of which may be chosen by City Football Group.

The ruling also states that Girona and Man City cannot transfer players to one another, which effectively rules out the opportunity for Savio to re-join Michel Sanchez’s side for next season (as he’s expected to join City from Troyes, another City Football Group side, in the summer) – Yan Couto would definitely not be able to re-sign, as he is already a Man City player.

UEFA’s control panel will rule on the matter after the deadline has passed, and if they reject the proposal, either Girona or Man City would be relegated to the Europa League, which would be a massive blow for the Catalans if it was them selected as the unlucky party.