Manchester City parent company eyeing China and India for next clubs, says City Football Group commercial chief Tom Glick

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China and India are the most likely locations of future additions to City Football Group’s (CFG) international network of clubs, chief commercial officer Tom Glick has told City PM

Manchester City’s parent company CFG already owns New York City FC in the United States and Melbourne City in Australia, as well as a minority stake in Japanese team Yokohama F Marinos.

CFG enjoys close ties with China in particular, after selling a 13 per cent stake to the state-backed China Media Capital Holdings in 2015.

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“Our chairman [Khaldoon Al Mubarak] has spoken publicly about our openness to new clubs and there are certainly some exciting, growing football markets around the world,” said Glick.

“Markets like China, India. We’re quite active in China right now. It’s an incredibly exciting place for football. When I’m on the ground there, which is a few days every month, I’m seeing first hand the big focus that the central government has put on it.

“So we’re very focused on it. We want to add value and help in any way that we can with the mission that China is on and that could perhaps involve a club at some point.”

CFG strengthened its ties with Asia on Friday when it announced a deal with Korean company Nexen Tires to be Manchester City’s first shirt-sleeve sponsor.