Khaldoon: City’s influence to grow stronger
MANCHESTER City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has warned his club’s rivals that the treble winners’ influence will grow even stronger after their historic season.
Pep Guardiola’s side became only the second English club to win the Premier League, Uefa Champions League and FA Cup in the same season.
It was the culmination of a remarkable era for City since they were taken over by their Abu Dhabibased owners.
Khaldoon believes City’s sustained success will benefit not only the Manchester side, but also the worldwide network of 13 teams purchased by the club’s owners.
Known as the City Football Group (CFG), they have clubs in locations including New York,
Melbourne and Yokohama, and this year brought Brazilian outfit Bahia.
CFG intends to invest considerably in all of those operations, including players, coaches, facilities and academies.
“It’s always about growth. You grow, you pause, you get things in order, and then you start the next step, one step at a time. We’re not going to stop,” Khaldoon told City’s media channels yesterday.
“We’re going to keep bringing happiness to every community and every club we have in the world, and hopefully we’ll keep bringing success in every club and team we have around the world.
“It’s been a great journey over the last 15 years but I’m excited about the future and it’s about now, the next 10, 15 years too.”
City have won seven Premier League titles since 2012, including five in the last six seasons.
However, in February City were charged with 115 alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial fair play regulations dating back to 2009 and accused of not cooperating in an investigation.
The club’s latest new infrastructure project is now in the pipeline with plans recently submitted to increase capacity at the Etihad Stadium to more than 60 000.
The expansion is part of a multimillion pound development which includes the construction of a hotel, shops and food and drink outlets as well as a new 3 000-capacity covered fan zone.
“It’s very exciting,” Khaldoon said.
“Every year there’s always something new, every year, because there’s always a need to improve and evolve and grow. We don’t stand still. We’re always in growth mode, we’re never in contentment and pause and ‘let’s just milk the asset’.”