Future of Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano revealed as potential successor named | OneFootball

A new report highlighting the ongoing changes within Manchester City has touched upon the future of the club’s current chief executive officer, Ferran Soriano.

Explanations and clarity surrounding the future of the football club comes during a period of confirmed and rumoured change at the forefront of the operation, after Manchester City confirmed the exit of Txiki Begiristain from his position at the end of the season.

The 60-year-old has been in the position of Director of Football since 2012, and has overseen the finest period in the club’s history, but will be replaced by Sporting CP’s Hugo Viana following the conclusion of the campaign.

There is also the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Pep Guardiola’s position as head coach, with the Catalan boss into the final year of his contract and remaining in a position of dilemma as he decides whether to extend his stay into a tenth season.

And a new report has offered insight into the future of Manchester City and the City Football Group’s transformational CEO, Ferran Soriano – a figure largely credited for the huge success seen by the wider group as a footballing business across the globe.

According to the information of The Athletic, Manchester City’s chief executive officer, Ferran Soriano is expected to continue in his present role at the club ‘for the next two years at least’.

It is highlighted that there had been rumours in recent months that Soriano was preparing to leave Manchester City, in addition to the confirmed exit of Txiki Begiristain at the end of the ongoing season.

However, the report explains that Ferran Soriano would continue working for the City Fotball Group (CFG), albeit in a different country and with a different role. However, it is reaffirmed that the current thinking is he will ‘stay in situ for the foreseeable future’.

On a personal front regarding Soriano, The Athletic reveals that his wife and their two daughters are settled in Manchester and not looking to up sticks. But should a replacement be required, it is stated that the current thinking is for CFG’s chief operating officer, Roel de Vries would be primed to step up.

Soriano has been a long-standing member of Manchester City’s hierarchy, taking on the role of CEO at the club in September 2012, with losses cut in half within the first year and months of his tenure.

The Barcelona-born 57-year-old was largely instrumental in replacing the club’s first Premier League-winning manager, Roberto Mancini with the equally successful Manuel Pellegrini, who was tasked with winning “five trophies in five years”.

Mancini had hit back at Soriano for the decision, as relayed by the Mirror at the time, “For him I was too big within the club. A manager in full control, loved by the fans still today. He judged a person and a context without knowing anything about the people he should have dealt with.

“I never thought of him as an interesting person from a football perspective. We never spoke the same language. And I’m not talking about Italian, Spanish or English.”

In 2023, as chief executive officer of Manchester City, Ferran Soriano was voted onto the board of the European Club Association (ECA), having previously been an observer to the board for a period of two seasons.