Daniel Burnham was the 19th century urban architect who helped shape cities like Chicago and San Francisco, but Lawrence Donegan believes he had a handle on the motivations of those owning English football clubs in 2009. “Make no little plans,” Burnham said. “They have no magic to stir men’s blood.” The same applies to Manchester City and its wealthy owners in Abu Dhabi with their ambitious bids for players like AC Milan’s Kaka .
You can’t blame those Manchester City fans “who prefer fantasy to reality” for indulging in dreams about what might result from such purchases, but the rest of us can be more detached. Looking beyond the immediate moral outrage of the $133 million price tag, the question is, as ever, can you buy success in soccer?
Up to a point. Chelsea’s now thrifty owner Roman Abramovich bought his club a couple of league titles, but after several hundred million dollars spent, “all he has left to show for his efforts are the contempt of Jose Mourinho and a team that might struggle to finish inside the top four of the Premier League.” But at least he’s learnt a lesson. And for Donegan that lesson is clear: “You cannot buy sustainable success in football, it needs to be built over time, perhaps over a period of 20 years.” Big spending is probably needed, “but so too is a belief in home-grown talent, an ability to dig out undiscovered potential and, most of all, patience. Just ask Sir Alex Ferguson, from whom everyone … can learn something about stirring the blood of men.”