Manchester City Football Club News

• Nickname:Sky Blues
• Founded:1887
• Manager:Roberto Mancini

• Ground:City of Manchester Stadium
• Capacity:48,000

City takeover deal completed

23 Sep 2008 - 19:53:54

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Manchester City's new owners have given manager Mark Hughes their full support and vowed not to interfere in team affairs after completing their takeover at Eastlands.

Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Abu Dhabi United Group formally completed their purchase of the club on Tuesday evening from former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Sheikh Mansour has already funded the British record £32.5million transfer capture of Robinho and the new owner has wasted little time in revealing his vision for the Citizens.

"Like you, we are excited about the future of the club, and we hope the securing of Robinho as a Manchester City player during the transfer window is seen as a signal of our very real intent," he wrote in an open letter to fans on the club's official website.

"My intention is that Manchester City has the very best people at its disposal, both on and off the field."

However, Sheikh Mansour has denied reports which suggested that his takeover would result in a lack of control over footballing matters for Hughes and a side-lining of the club's productive academy system.

"We are ambitious for the club, like you, but not unreasonably so and we understand it takes time to build a team capable of sustaining a presence in the top four of the Premier League and winning European honours," he continued.

"We know a little of the history at City also and whilst we want to bring in the best players in the world, we also want to see the academy continue to develop talent and give Mark Hughes the chance to bring home-grown players into the team.

"We consider Mark Hughes to be one of the prime assets of the club. We will back his judgement in what players to bring in and we look forward to working more closely with him in the future.

"We are building a structure for the future not just a team of all-stars."