City Football Group increased its portfolio to seven clubs after buying a stake in Chinese third-tier side Sichuan Jiuniu FC in February
Mumbai City FC co-owner Ranbir Kapoor
English Premier League giants Manchester City's owners City Football Group (CFG) are planning to invest in an Indian football team by the end of this year, said chief executive Ferran Soriano.
An official of a reputed club, who has been tracking the development, said the Premier League champions are at an "advanced stage of discussions" with Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Mumbai City FC. They have also had preliminary discussions with Jamshedpur FC.
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"Last year, they visited India and watched a match between Jamshedpur and Mumbai City. Talks are on for sure," the official, close to Mumbai City FC, said.
Another official in the know of things, said:"City owners have been talking to Mumbai for the past eight months and talks are at an advanced stage."
City owner Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi Royal Family, has recently purchased a Chinese third division club Sichuan Jiuniu, a seventh addition to their bouquet of clubs, which also include New York City, Melbourne City, Japan's Yokohama F Marinos, Atletico Torque and Girona.
"We have some interest in some markets and countries where there is a genuine football passion and opportunities, like China, but also India. So there might be other opportunities in Asia," Sorianio was quoted by www.skysports.com.
The CEO said that City, currently on top of EPL points table, have been exploring the Indian market for the past two years now.
"With all these developments, we have to be patient. We have been looking at India for nearly two years now. I would say this year we'll end up doing an investment in India," he said.
City CEO Soriano termed it as a "natural pace of growth" where the club is looking at adding a few more clubs to their already growing list.
He said: "As we see it now, there is a natural pace of growth that we will follow that takes us to more than seven teams, but not 100 teams.
"I cannot see 10 years ahead but the group might have two or three teams more. Is this going to change in five years and we're going to have more? Maybe, [but] I don't know that. But to complete the vision that we had six years ago, I think we will have maybe two or three clubs more."
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