Man City are a bigger club than Utd – Dickov

Manchester City are a bigger club than city rivals Manchester United according to former club striker Paul Dickov. 

This season, Pep Guardiola’s City side once again sit once top of the Premier League table after seven matches, unbeaten and continuing the excellent form and style of play that saw them win the title so convincingly in last campaign.

In contrast, United have had a terrible start to the footballing year with under-pressure manager Jose Mourinho, with the Red Devils losing a series of ‘winnable’ matches, dropping out of the EFL Cup to Championship side Derby County and sitting lowly in 10th place in the Premier League, a massive nine points behind City.

Former club striker Dickov believes that the tables have turned and it is the blue half of Machester that now rules the roost and can label themselves as the biggest club in Manchester.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Dickov said: “’I genuinely believe Manchester City are a bigger club than Manchester United. If you look at what Manchester United have won over the last 20 or 30 years, there’s an argument to say they are the bigger club.

“But I’m talking about on the pitch now, winning things now, and winning things over the last two or three seasons, not 20 years ago.

“Going forward into the next five or six years, I genuinely believe Manchester City are the bigger club. I genuinely believe the players and the club now feel that they’re bigger than Manchester United.

“Manchester City have won three Premier League titles in the last seven years and got to the Champions League semi-final a few years ago.

“Definitely on the pitch they have not just caught up with Manchester United, they have gone on to a completely different level.

“If you look at the players they’ve got, how they are performing and what they did last season when they broke all sorts of records – I think you’ve got to say that.

“Manchester United under Fergie were untouchable for years. I know when the City owners came in they wanted to catch up and get on a level playing field with Manchester United, but I genuinely believe on the pitch they’ve overtaken them.

“But it’s not just Manchester United, Liverpool are doing everything to catch up, but City have set the bar so high with the players and the coach they have – everyone else is definitely playing catch up now.”

How do you measure a big club?

There is no doubt that Manchester City’s on-field genius makes them the better footballing side. However, you don’t just turn into a smaller club across a few years of no success and United can still boast that they are one of the biggest clubs in world football, despite their on and off-field problems.

They are still the most successful club in the history of English football, winning a massive 20 top-flight league titles in their history, with 13 coming since the birth of the Premier League under the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Despite the threat of the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich and now even the ’emerging’ Manchester City, United are still the most valuable football team in the world, at a value of $3.69billion (£2.86billion).

Like City, United also have a large group of players that are franchises in their own right. World Cup winner Paul Pogba (despite his current controversies with the club), Alexis Sanchez (despite his poor form), David de Gea (despite his Real Madrid flirtation), Romelu Lukaku (despite his poor start to the season) and upcoming England star Marcus Rashford (despite his inconsistent playing time) all provide value and attract worldwide support from United’s global fanbase.

However, City are growing. They are fifth on the value list, valued at $2.08bn (£1.61bn) with their stock still rising. They have the same, if not slightly better, clientele to increase their global domination, with Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling and company all attractive players to choose to support.

As for last season, it was the most convincing title win in the Premier League’s history. The most points (100), most wins (32), most goals (106) and biggest winning points margin (19) meant Guardiola is rapidly turning the blue half of Manchester into the biggest club in England.

All in good time Dickov.

 

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