Man City owners have 'no intention' of selling club

Manchester City's owners have "no intention" of selling the club as they see it as a "long-term investment", says chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

The Abu Dhabi United Group backed by United Arab Emirates vice president Sheikh Mansour completed their takeover of the club in 2008 for £200m.

According to Transfermarkt,, external City are now the third most valuable club in the world with a market value of £1.14bn, behind only Champions League winners Paris St-Germain and Spanish giants Real Madrid.

In a report, external published in January, finance auditors Deloitte ranked City in sixth position in terms of revenue generated last season at £716m.

"When Sheikh Mansour looks at this club, he sees it as a long-term investment," said Khaldoon in part two of his in-house interview.

"Not just Sheikh Mansour but the shareholders who have invested in this club over the years buy into the vision that we are 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 $100-120m back in 2008. Then over the years we've had multiple stop points where the value went from $120m to $1bn."

Meanwhile, the City Football Group now controls a total of 12 clubs spanning five continents.

"There's no intention to sell," added Khaldoon. "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. It's football and it's entertainment.

"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.

"Manchester City and this group within the football world is a pinnacle and these sorts of jewels, you don't sell."