Mangala's move to Manchester City now subject to FIFA investigation
Eliaquim Mangala’s move to Manchester City from FC Porto last year is under investigation by FIFA, as per the reports on Manchester Evening News. Mangala made a switch from the Portuguese club in the summer of 2014 for a reported fee of £32 million, which was later discovered to be £10 million more.
It is believed that Porto owns 56 percent of the player, but the rest of his contract was owned by investment companies Doyen sports and Robi Plus. Neither Mangala nor his club are likely to face any action if they are found guilty.
The 24-year-old’s former club had announced that they received around £22.2 million for the player. That meant the two third party owners received around £17 million. The agreement appears to fly in the face of FIFA’ s rules at the time, which prohibited third parties from influencing team’s transfer negotiations.
Doyen are a group of rich businessmen who speculate on the futures of promising footballers, lending clubs money to buy and taking a stake in the player and betting that whatever he might go for in the future will more than cover the initial investment. According to reports, the company had raised 50 million euros as part of its first investment fund for Mangala.
The France international said after the move that he had no idea that Doyen and Robi Plus owned almost half of his contract between them. The Portuguese club could now face a fine or transfer ban if found guilty after FIFA confirmed that they are looking into the matter.
David Luiz’s transfer from Chelsea to France’s Paris Saint-Germain in 2014 made him the most expensive defender in football history while Mangala’s move to City made him the second most expensive defender.
The former Porto centre-back struggled in his first season at the Etihad stadium, playing only 25 times in the league. Mangala collected seven yellow cards and was shown the red card on one occasion. City struggled last season as Chelsea went on to clinch the title at the end.
Although he made a slow start with the Citizens but he has fared better this season, playing in seven of City's eight league matches. Mangala is on course to establishing himself in Manuel Pellegrini's side and is currently competing for a permanent role against the newly arrived defender Nicolas Otamendi. City are sitting at the top of the league following their 6-1 victory over Newcastle United.