A club owned by EPL champions Manchester City owners in India? Well, it might not be a distant reality as the owners are considering an addition of a team in India to sugar-coat their global portfolio of clubs.
Recently, City Football Group (CFG), owned by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi royal family, announced that they had purchased a stake in Chinese third-tier club Sichuan Jiuniu. And with this, the tally of the number of clubs under CFG banner went up to seven, with the group also owning or having stakes in the New York City, Melbourne City, Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos, Atletico Torque and Girona, and of course the star side Manchester City.
They want to explore the opportunities in the soccer loving nations of China and India and stated that a patient approach is required for a sustainable development. According to chief executive Ferran Soriano, there is still room for further investment beyond its existing seven teams. Starting out as an umbrella organisation, CFG was established in 2013 when City’s initial sister club was launched in New York. As of now, they are planning to invest in two or three more teams.
