New owners for Manchester City

Filed in archive Premier League 2008-09 on September 1, 2008

The Arabian Business website has announced that Manchester City have been taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment.

It says that the deal with current owner Thaksin Shinawatra, himself only in post for just over a year, was agreed on Sunday night.

Shinawatra has helped to fund a number of big transfers in the past year but, with his assets currently frozen in Thailand, rumours of his wish to move on had been well publicised.

The Abu Dhabi United Group will be represented on the club's board by Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim, chief executive of Hydra Properties.

He said: "We will release details later, but this is a great event for both the club and Abu Dhabi. Our goal is very simple; to make Manchester City the biggest clup in the Premier League, and to begin with, to finish in the top four this season."

There you go then Mark Hughes...no pressure!