Girona benefit from City link

The surprise story in European football this season has undoubtedly been Girona, who have featured prominently at the top of La Liga, battling with the traditional elite like Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atleti in only their second season back in Spain’s top flight.   I watched Real Madrid beat them 4-0 on television on Saturday, but that could just be a blip.

The club’s own aspirations after promotion were relatively modest, as summarised by chief executive Ignasi Mas-Bagà, “The goal was non-relegation. That has been the target since we arrived. Leading the table is like a dream for us. But it’s not an obsession. The focus is long-term stability.”

This reaction was understandable, given that Girona’s promotion in 2021/22 was only secured via the play-offs after the club finished sixth in the Segunda division. In fact, this was only the second time that the club from Northern Catalonia had reached La Liga, having spent two years in the top flight after promotion in 2016/17.

Ten years before that they had been playing in the lower leagues, the Segunda B and even the Tercera, so it’s clear that Girona have come a very long way in a relatively short period.

City Football Group

Of course, many will point to the fact that Girona are a part of the City Football Group (CFG), who are probably the most successful example of multi-club ownership in the world of football. Largely owned by Abu Dhabi United Group, they first acquired Manchester City in 2008, but have significantly expanded their empire since then after investing in another 12 clubs all around the world.

CFG bought a 44.3% stake in Girona in August 2017 with the same amount held by a consortium led by Pere Guardiola, whose more famous brother is the Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola.

One of the major advantages of being part of CFG is that it makes it a more attractive proposition for good players. As Pere Guardiola said, “Linking to a brand like City means that Girona can attract much more talent.” This was surely one of the factors that helped bring Ukrainian internationals, Artem Dovbyk and Viktor Tsyhankov, to the Montilivi.

Girona managed to generate a small €0.9m pre-tax profit in their first season back in La Liga in 2022/23, which was a lot better than the €15.9m loss they made the previous season in the Segunda division, though that was partly driven by a promotion bonus.

Revenue more than quadrupled from €13.3m to €59.7m and profit from player sales was up from basically nothing to €2.8m, though this was partly offset by operating expenses more than doubling from €29.8m to €61.9m.

Following promotion, there were increases in all three revenue streams, though broadcasting led the way, thanks to the much better TV deal in La Liga, rising by €36.8m from €7.9m to €44.7m. Commercial nearly tripled, rising €5.9m from €3.3m to €9.2m, as did match day, up €3.7m from €2.1m to €5.8m.

European hopes

Of course, if Girona do manage to qualify for Europe, that would have a major impact on the club’s finances, especially if they secure a Champions League place. As an example, the lowest amount earned last year in Europe’s leading tournament was Atletico Madrid’s €62m, while finalists Real Madrid received €119m.  Even if they “only” qualified for the Europa League or Europa Conference, that would still be worth around €18 or €10m respectively.

Some have raised the possibility that Girona would have issues with UEFA’s multi-club ownership regulations, which theoretically prohibit any company or private individual from having control or influence over more than one club in the same European competition, due to the part ownership by CFG.

However, given that RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg have happily competed in Europe for the past few seasons, as have many other clubs under common ownership (Aston Villa and Vitoria Guimaraes, Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise, Milan and Toulouse), this is unlikely to be an insurmountable barrier.

Girona’s 69% wages to turnover ratio is mid-table in La Liga. At one end of the spectrum, there are quite a few clubs above 80%, while Real Madrid are really low at just 49%.  Maybe a better comparison would be Real Valladolid, who were promoted at the same time as Girona, who had a much higher ratio of 83%.

Girona’s total debt is up to €27m, mainly comprising financial debt €11m, transfer debt €8m, tax €5m and personnel debt €3m. In the last three years, this has nearly tripled, but it is still pretty low.

As a sign of Girona’s ambition, the club has purchased land for the construction of a new sports city in the municipality of Vilablareix, which will become the headquarters of the City Football Academy Girona, following the principles established at other clubs in the group.

Although there is little doubt that Girona have benefited from belonging to City Football Group, it is equally evident that they done very well with much smaller resources than their rivals at the top of the table – as well as virtually every other club in La Liga.