MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 06: Josep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City poses with The Premier League Trophy after the Premier League match between Manchester City and Huddersfield Town at Etihad Stadium on May 6, 2018 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Eagle eyed fans noticed some strange business activity by Manchester City at the end of June 2019.

Documents lodged at Companies House in London suggest that Manchester City have entered a loan agreement with Barclays Bank. Whilst this is not unusual for most football clubs it has not happened on this scale before for Manchester City since the takeover by Sheik Mansour.

Since the takeover, investment has been provided through a complex arrangement of sponsorship and direct funding from the owner. Despite the range of development both into the area of East Manchester where the club is based and continued investment in the first team, to date this has been provided from within the club.

The amount of the loan is not revealed in the published documents but appears to offer the collateral of 2018/19 TV revenue as security. Similar agreements have usually been undertaken by other Premier League clubs – in effect borrowing the full amount of the TV revenue in advance and repaying in instalments as the TV is released. Other clubs such as Everton have used these arrangements to fund transfers for players.

Speculation has mounted amongst fans that the sum of money involved in the loan – potentially up to £150 million – suggests Manchester City are preparing to commit to breaking their transfer record and perhaps the World Transfer Record. Given Manchester City these days are run as a business and generate their own revenue, fans believe the huge sum borrowed points to a massive transfer signing.

Most transfers are paid in instalments so increasing available capital by £150 million provides a huge potential spending power which may make other clubs wary as we approach the end of the Summer Transfer Window.

Of course there could be a more mundane reason for the loan to support further development of the Etihad stadium given owners wish to extend the capacity to over 60,000 but fans will more likely prefer the romantic version. It may be time to dream the impossible dream – Messi, Hazard, Bonnucci, Thiago – or even all of them.