Manchester City might not have had a historic run in their career previously, but they have certainly begun writing their own chapters in the Football history book with their spectacular performance since the past few seasons and subsequent rise through the ranks to be touted as one of the best football clubs in the modern era.
The club has found this new energy and success under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the vice president, and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. “Sheikh Mansour” as people commonly call him, has led Manchester City to gradually crawl up the ranks and today compete toe-to-toe with some of the most powerful football clubs in the world.
The proof of the club’s success is evident with their performance in the ongoing 2022-2023 Premier League season where they have finished on top of the league rankings with 86 points, have won all of their last 7 matches on a trot and will now be facing off against Inter Milan in the Premier League final.
Before the Middle East tycoon took over the club, Manchester City was a club that really wasn’t interesting to watch. They often fall to the lower divisions, and even when they appear in England’s highest competition, the bottom position often becomes the throne.
The club experienced its first major financial push in 2007 when Thai businessman Thaksin Shinawatra acquired 75% stake in the club, for a value of over £80 million, and asked Sven Goran Eriksson to coach the players. However, despite the money push and some promising performances, the club failed to advance to the top of the rankings
This was followed by a financial breakdown wherein it was revealed that Shinawatra’s assets were frozen because the large amount of money that had been disbursed by the Thai businessmen turned out to be the result of corruption. This prompted the club’s then CEO, Garry Cook, to travel the world in a desperate attempt to look for new investments. That is when he met Sheikh Mansour.
Mansour’s investment into the team revived not just the club, but its spirit towards the sport. In September 2008, Mansour officially completed the purchase of Manchester City for £210 million. He further invested over £200 million to overhaul the team. Manchester City’s first major signing after the Mansour acquisition was Real Madrid star Robinho, who was signed for a fee of £32.8 million back then.
Though success wasn’t found immediately, since Manchester City could only make it to the 10th place in the 2008-2009 Premier League rankings, Mansour remained patient. He brought in Roberto Mancini to replace Mark Hughes at the end of 2009, and the club eventually ended the 2009-2010 Premier League campaign at 5th place.
While Man. City supporters rallied him to sack Mancini from coaching the team, Mansour showed faith in his potential, considering Mancini to be the right man to guide the team to lost glory. The Middle East boss further invested in a number of talented players, such as Yaya Toure, David Silva and Mario Balotelli, all of whom have praised Mansour’s efforts and management skills for the club over time.
The most respected move Mansour ultimately made was that in 2014, Manchester City officially opened the City Football Academy, which was built on a land measuring over 30 hectares and cost a whopping £150 million – £200 million in construction. The aim behind building the academy was to assert Mansour’s belief that “Manchester City is not just a football club that only focuses on collecting big stars. It also focuses on developing young talent who will have the potential to become a mainstay of the club”.
As a result of Sheikh Mansour’s patience and perseverance in overseeing the progress of the club Manchester United is one of the most successful and consistent football clubs in the circuit today. It will be interesting to see if they can bag the Premier League title as they lock horns with Inter Milan in the final showdown next month!
