Manchester City have been joined in the City Football Group stable of Clubs by Mumbai City.
It has been well known for some time that the CFG have been looking to continue their expansion around the globe by seeking a Club from the Indian Super League. Ferran Sorriano, the Chief Executive, has spoken in the past about the emerging football markets in both China and India were of interest. The real surprise is that deals for both of those countries have been concluded in 2019.
As Man City Square covered a few days ago, the CFG continues to grow and following the recent investment from Silver Lake partners is now considered as the most valuable football club group in the world. Part of the strategy has involved the development of a series of interconnected clubs spanning the world.
The vision has been for these clubs to share playing styles and knowledge and expertise and for the cross marketing and sponsorship to add value to all the clubs in the stable.
More from Man City Square
- Rodri believes City can have even more success this season
- Grealish, Stones, and Kovacic will NOT play tomorrow
- My Manchester City UCL Group Stage predictions
- After Injury Guardiola is back in Etihad
- Phil Foden Scores Opener for England Against Scotland
Mumbai City now become the 8th club in the CFG stable – alongside Manchester City, New York City, Melbourne City, Yokohama F Marinos, Club Atletico Torque, Girona FC and Sichuan Jiuniu FC.
Mumbai were owned by Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor and Bimal Parekh, who now retain 35% of the shares. The controlling ownership of the CFG means that Damian Willoughby has been appointed as the CEO of CFG India.
Mumbai play their matches at a 8000 seater arena and are currently just 5 games into the 6th season in the Indian Super League.
All of this now means that the CFG has 13 offices around the world and employs more than 2000 staff and has some 1500 footballers on the books. These footballers play an astonishing 2500 games a year – which will be difficult for any single fan to keep on top of!
The growth and expansion of the CFG does not end here and there are plans afoot to further expand in the coming years!