Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak spoke about Sheikh Mansour's stance on the club and the ongoing charges.
The Manchester City owner Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (centre with scarf) next to chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarrak (right) as the teams come onto the pitch before the UEFA Champions League Final between Manchester City and Inter Milan at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on June 10th 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey (Photo by Tom Jenkins/Getty Images)
Sheikh Mansour with Khaldoon Al Mubarak in Istanbul in 2023
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Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak pledged that Sheikh Mansour has no intention of selling the club as the stadium expansion continues. While there are still serious allegations hanging over the club from the Premier League and Pep Guardiola has said farewell after a decade in charge, City's owners are said to be excited about the long-term growth that their investment can bring.
Mansour led a spectacular takeover at the Etihad in 2008 and his right-hand man Al Mubarak has transformed the club since then into one of the best teams in England and Europe. They have also built up the land around the ground, with a £200m training facility opened over the road in 2014 and a £300m improvement around the North Stand ongoing to turn the Etihad into an entertainment venue across the year.
Since the Abu Dhabi reign began, critics have questioned how long it will last and when City could find their funding pulled. However, after 18 years the message from the top is that there is still much more to come.
“There’s no intention to sell. There’s only intention to keep growing this because the view here is this will only grow and this is a beautiful business to own," said Al Mubarak. "It’s football and it’s entertainment. And in the world we’re in today, while the world changes and people’s attention goes to different things, sport stays. And football within sports is the pinnacle. And Manchester City and this Group within the football world is a pinnacle. And these sorts of jewels, you don’t sell.
"When Sheikh Mansour looks at this club, he sees it as a long-term investment. Not just Sheikh Mansour. Sheikh Mansour of course and the shareholders who have invested in this club over the years buy into the vision that we’re going to invest in something that’s going to grow in value over time.
"Of course, His Highness has no intention of selling this business, but over time, new shareholders come in at different value points that show how that value is really growing. So, this club, when Sheikh Mansour first invested in it, the value was $100-120 million back in 2008.
"Then over the years we’ve had multiple stop points where the value went from $120 million to $1billion, the value of the Group became $1 billion. Then it became $2 billion, then it became $3 billion, then we had investors come in and actually invest in the club at $3 billion. We continued to grow; we continued to grow the value of this business while always keeping the profits and the revenue in the business because that helps to keep growing this value that we’re creating.
"Then we went up to $5 billion and then more money came in, investors buying into this strategy, buying into this value creation and putting money into it. And again, Sheikh Mansour took a very important choice which was that the money stays in because we’re going to keep building this. And this went up from $5 billion to $6 billion, to $7 billion, to north of $8 billion dollars. If you’re going to sell all this today in the market, you wouldn’t sell it for less than $10 billion minimum. That’s value creation.”
Al Mubarak described the new entertainment sector being built around the North Stand, which includes the Co-Op Live arena that City Football Group are major shareholders in, as unique in Europe as he hailed the investment as something that will bring a lot of return to City and the area. Mansour and Al Mubarak have other commercial and political involvements, but City remains 'a jewel' for them that they are fully involved in.
One major hurdle to clear remains the Premier League charges, first laid at the club's door in 2023 and still not resolved despite a hearing into all the evidence that ended 18 months ago. Al Mubarak has said before that he is relishing the opportunity to speak once that has concluded, and he reiterated that stance.
“Let me be as consistent as I’ve always been – until we have a ruling, I can’t say much," he said. "Once we have a ruling, believe me, we’re going to have a wonderful sit down together and I’ll say everything I’ve wanted to say for the last three years.”