MANCHESTER CITY’S owners are in talks to buy French club Troyes, according to reports.
The City Football Group already have nine sides in their stable, spearheaded by the four-time Premier League champions.
Manchester City’s parent owners City Football Group are looking to buy French side TroyesCredit: Getty Images – Getty
But according to the Irish Times, CFG bosses want to close out a deal to purchase the French second-division outfit as their tenth team.
The report adds that they have been in discussions with a number of sides in France including Nancy.
But sources suggest ESTAC Troyes is their first choice and a deal could get done for “single-digit millions” of euros.
Like with Spain’s Girona and recently-acquired Lommel in Belgium, Troyes would be an opportunity to invest in a smaller European side to help develop young talents and build experience.
Troyes – who beat Newcastle in the 2001 Intertoto Cup final – narrowly missed out on promotion in each of the last two seasons following their relegation from Ligue 1 in 2018.
They currently have former Crystal Palace left-back Pape Souare in their squad following his transfer from Selhurst Park a year ago.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan bought Manchester City in 2008 and his heavy investment has taken them to the top of English game with 11 domestic trophies plus three Community Shields in that time.
As well as the Cityzens, Girona and Lommel, the CFG – with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak running operations – own teams in America, Australia, Japan, China, India and Uruguay.
There are 13 offices around the world, more than 2,000 employees and 1,500 players on their books.
When a ten per cent share was sold to US private-equity firm Silver Lake last year, the group’s value was estimated at just under £4BILLION.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
