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Man City are more than just money: Premier League domination owes as much to perfect planning as superstar players

Five Premier League titles in the last six years is a truly stunning feat from Manchester City, a level of dominance not seen since Manchester United’s iron grip on the title between 1996 and 2001. United’s hegemony then was not purely down to having great players and a great manager. The club were ahead of the curve off the pitch too, expanding Old Trafford every few years, building a new training ground, investing in their youth academy and growing their brand around the world through innovative commercial moves.

That is exactly what City have done over the last decade. But there is one difference: United got ahead of their rivals in an era when clubs were still adapting to football’s new level of popularity thanks to the Premier League, while City are putting their rivals in the shade in an era when football has never been more competitive.

City do have the advantage of the backing of the Abu Dhabi United Group, but they are far from the only club in recent Premier League history to have wealthy benefactors. They have not just thrown money at the club and acted out their Football Manager dreams. They have carefully constructed a project for global domination, hiring the best minds as well as the best players and the best coach.

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And they have done that without the historical legacy of many of their rivals such as Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea, who were getting rich off the popularity of the early Premier League years when City were yo-yoing between the top flight and second tier - and even third tier - of English football.

In an era when football clubs are effectively multinational corporations, City are the best run company in the most competitive league in the world. Don’t hate them for being better than everyone else.