City owners add Belgian club to stable
LONDON: The owners of Premier League champions Manchester City have agreed to buy Belgian second division club Lommel SK, City Football Group (CFG) said in a statement yesterday.
The Belgian team will become the ninth club in the CFG network, which also includes Major League Soccer (MLS) side New York City and Spanish second division club Girona among others.
CFG is set to wipe out the Belgian club’s debt worth £1.75 million (US$2.16 million) as part of the deal, the BBC reported.
“This investment is part of our longterm strategy to be present in key football countries, play beautiful football and develop talent,” said CFG chief executive Ferran Soriano.
“We were attracted to Lommel’s culture, training facilities and commitment to youth development and we look forward to learning from their approach and helping the club to evolve in the months and years ahead.”
Last year, CFG, which is majority owned by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, expanded their network to India after agreeing to buy a 65% stake in Indian Super League (ISL) side Mumbai City FC.
Lommel were sixth in the league when the season in Belgium was ended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has written to some of the club’s supporters to apologise for breaking coronavirus lockdown guidelines twice, the BBC reported.
Walker put a message on social media on Friday detailing how he had travelled to South Yorkshire to visit his sister and parents at different addresses, and said he felt “harassed” by the media.