It was a hot, lazy June lunchtime and most of the world was taking a momentary pause from football, yet there was the face of Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak, on a TV screen, delivering his thoughts on what happens next.
‘Today I’m speaking to you but I’m already thinking about next year,’ he said, at the top of the news bulletin during an Ashes lunch break last week. ‘We’re always in growth mode. We’re never in contentment and pause. We’re never, “Let’s just milk the asset.”’
This hardly needed pointing out. The summer transfer window is entering its third week and there’s already been a Manchester City medical for Mateo Kovacic and a Manchester City drive to buy RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol and a £90m Manchester City bid for Declan Rice.