Manchester United's Man City inspiration speaks volumes about what Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants

In the early days of the Abu Dhabi era of Manchester City, when the ambition outweighed the reality and the master plan was about how to deliver success rather than sustain it, club bosses looked to Catalonia for inspiration.

At the end of the 2000s and the start of the 2010s, Barcelona were the gold standard when it came to football clubs. An academy producing an endless supply of talent, a manager delivering beautiful and winning football and a commercial arm delivering profits. It was what City aspired to be.

So to help make it a reality, they began poaching Barcelona's staff. It didn't just allow them to appoint outstanding individuals to key roles, but it essentially bought them some of that Barcelona IQ. If they couldn't have Lionel Messi (and they would try) and they couldn't have Pep Guardiola (yet), they could buy some of the knowledge of how that club worked.

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The first to board a flight from Barcelona to Manchester was Omar Berrada, who left the Nou Camp to take up a role as City's head of international business development in September 2011. In September 2012 it was Ferran Soriano who was appointed as City's chief executive and a month later came Txiki Begiristain as director of football. The Barcelona powerbase was now in place at the Etihad and they would help to lure Guardiola as well, via a spell in Munich.

Now, clubs aiming to be the best don't look at a debt-riddled Barca for inspiration. They take a peek behind the curtains at the Etihad. Manchester City are the gold standard now when it comes to football operations.

That's a galling