In 2008, the Abu Dhabi United Group, led by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the royal family of the United Arab Emirates bought Manchester City. Days after the announcement of the change in ownership of the Mancunian club, City made the second most expensive signing in the history of English football with the addition of Robinho, coming from Real Madrid. It took three campaigns to celebrate the first title in 35 years, the FA Cup. In 2012, thanks to a historic goal by Sergio Agüero on the last play on the last day of the Premier League, the Celestes won their first league in 44 years. With the title drought over, in May 2013 the City Football Group.
Together to the New York Yankeesin 2013 they announced the purchase of the twentieth franchise of the MLS American: the New York City. In January 2014, the conglomerate took possession of the Melbourne Heart FC Australian, which was renamed Melbourne City. Several groups have invested in CFG over the years, and it currently has the China Media Capital Consortium and Silver Lake as minority owners of the group. 77% of the shares remain in the hands of the Abu Dhabi United Group.
After settling on three continents with the purchase of Manchester City, New York City and Melbourne City, CFG invested in Yokohama F. Marinos Japanese. Subsequently, another seven clubs entered the plans of the group, which has ended and is currently present in eleven countries. In 2017, a year after the arrival of Pep Guardiolathe CFG announced the purchase of Girona together with the Girona Football Group, owned by Pere Guardiolathe brother of the former coach of the Barcelona and the Bayern Munich.
Clubes del City Football Group
Manchester City (Inglaterra)
New York City (United States)
Melbourne City (Australia)
Montevideo City Torque (Uruguay)
Girona (Spain)
Sichuan Jiuniu (China)
Mumbai City (India)
Lommel SK (Belgica)
Esperance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne, ESTAC (France)
Club Bolivar (Bolivia)
Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan) – Minority shareholding
A global scout network
The City Football Group facilitates the sports and commercial strategies of the Manchester City with the rest of the clubs that make it up, and together with an initial economic investment they help the growth of newcomers. The presence of the group in eleven countries considerably expands the network of scouts of its clubs, making it global. The mission is clear: look for young pearls, polish them and find a place for them in the league where they can show their full potential. Two slogans come into play. Trying to make these players useful for the first teams of each club, either for their contribution on the pitch or for the economic benefits that can be achieved with a transfer to another team. This was the case of soccer players like Yangel Herrera, Aaron Mooy or Kelechi Iheanacho.
In the commercial section, the City Football Group commitment to compete in the world of entertainment. They trust that their brand will be that of colorful and attractive football, that it will be successful on and off the pitch. That fans from all over the world consume club content, that they travel to Manchesterthat they go to the stadium and also go through the official store. Their rivals on the field may be Liverpool or, in today’s case, Atlético de Madrid. Outside of it, they compete with streaming platforms and sports entities such as the franchises of the NFL o la NBA as well as with the richest soccer clubs on the planet.