With so much talk surrounding whether Lionel Messi will leave Barcelona and perhaps find himself pitching up at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium next season, news that City’s owners have acquired their 10th football club has somewhat gone under the radar.
City Football Group (CFG) already own controlling stakes in MLS club New York City, Sichuan Jiuniu in China, Mumbai City in India, Melbourne City in Australia, Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan, Girona FC in Spain, Montevideo City Torque in Uruguay and Lommel SK in Belgium.
On Thursday, the group announced it had also acquired a majority stake in French Ligue 2 side, Troyes, cited by Sky Sports.
Having a monopoly on so many strategic assets can hardly be good for the game, but as they’re doing absolutely nothing wrong, the chances are that CFG will continue to broaden their footballing horizons.
With the ability to loan players between their respective clubs, whilst also developing young talent, don’t be surprised to see the production line start to turn soon.