Manchester City owners criticized: 'French football doesn't need you'

After it was reported that Manchester City secured the signing of Savinho, a young winger loaned by Troyes to Girona, for the next season, Jérôme Rothen, a former player of the French club, accused the City Football Group of using the other clubs it owns solely for the exclusive success of the English three-time champion and European champion.

"You might think that just because it's Troyes, we won't be vigilant. I find that problematic. I just want to tell them: 'Go away, French football doesn't need you.' I'm not ashamed to say it, we don't need them," he began, in statements to the "Rothen s'enflamme" podcast on RMC Sport radio.

"I'm angry, this player sums it all up. They are using this club as a springboard for certain players. Since they took over [Troyes], the ending has been bitter. When they arrived, they sold us a club that should be a champion and last in Ligue 1, but in the end, it's at the bottom of Ligue 2. There is no stability," he criticized, before appealing to the team's fans, who were relegated to the French second division last season and risk another drop to the third tier.

"With Savinho, we've turned a corner and we have to denounce them. And if protests aren't enough, don't come to the stadium anymore, leave them alone, and make them understand that, after a while, they will have to leave," he concluded.

Savinho, acquired from Atlético Mineiro in 2022 for 6.5 million euros, remains the most expensive purchase in Troyes' history, where he has never played a match, being immediately loaned to PSG and, in the current season, to Girona.

In the 2023/24 season, the 19-year-old Brazilian winger has scored seven goals and provided the same number of assists in 27 games played for the current second-placed team in the Spanish league. On the other hand, Troyes, acquired by the City Group in 2020, is currently in 15th place in Ligue 2, with only four points ahead of the relegation zone.