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Following the recent investments of New York`s Chrysler Building, a stake in Ferrari and the acquisition of MCFC, His Highness Sheikh Mansour this week invested more than £5 billion in Barclays bank.
This means he now has a 16.3% stake in Great Britain’s second-biggest bank.
The 38 year old brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi has an estimated family fortune of about £555 billion to buy foreign assets with and that wealth shows no signs of waning in a world where oil is king.
The general rule of thumb is that every time the price of oil goes up by approximately $1, then Abu Dhabi rakes in as much as $500 million plus per day. Stunning.
The chairman of Al Jazeera Football Club and the Emirates Horse Racing Authority with a bachelors degree in political science has given us another reminder this week of the financial clout he has at his disposal.
Thus far under Sheikh ‘Mancity’s’ ownership, City have signed the brilliant Robinho and the solid Pablo Zabaleta then paid off all outstanding debts.
Next in line for purchase is The City of Manchester Stadium which is likely to be expanded in size.
No wonder united’s Chief Executive David Gill, following up on the recent repeated press conference discussions about City by Sir Taggart, has himself started debating with the media what will happen at Sportcity in January.
Clearly the rags are rattled. But like it or not, developments at Eastlands over the coming months are increasingly likely to transform the Premier League landscape. Mark “Bluesy” Hughes will be flying down to Abu Dhabi in a fortnight to discuss January’s transfer targets for starters.