The old town of Girona stands beyond Estadi Montilivi, home stadium of Girona Futbol Club.
Photographer: Angel Garcia/BloombergManchester City Expands Its Empire Into Barcelona’s Backyard
The English soccer champion plans to turn its sister club Girona into a factory of top talent.
Among the lush green mountains of northern Catalonia, a group of young soccer players dressed top to toe in blue gently jogs up and down a neatly cut sports field rented from a nearby golf club.
It’s a region known more as a training ground for professional cyclists than would-be stars of the world’s biggest sport. But the athletes limbering up at Girona FC are part of a global business that’s gained a foothold in Spain’s top league by investing in a club few soccer fans outside the country had heard of before last year.