Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak has warned their rivals that they expect the club to get even stronger over the next decade.
Owner Sheikh Mansour will have been with the club for 10 years in September following their unforgettable deadline day takeover and he has invested heavily in the club, winning three Premier League titles during his time.
Al Mubarak says the Abu Dhabi billionaire is committed to the long-term future of the club and is ready for it to grow even bigger over the next decade.
“We will continue through this journey. It’s 10 years and we’re excited about what’s been accomplished, particularly this year, what a way to celebrate 10 years,” he said.
“But it’s a long-term plan. His Highness Sheikh Mansour is committed in the long-term, this journey continues. Now it’s about the next 10 years, continuing to work with a strategy and a vision.
“I remember many years, we’d see a lot of: ‘It won’t last, it’s unsustainable, financially unfeasible, they’re not going to be successful, they cannot unseat the big powers, they won’t be able to compete in the Champions League.’ I’ve heard all of that, time and time again. But I knew it could be done.
“We had the right people involved, the support of the fans, the commitment. Unbelievable. If it wasn’t for the fans we wouldn’t be able to be where we are today.
“At no point have I felt the fans were not 100 percent behind the ownership and this project and without that things would have been far more difficult.”
The one big disappointment during Sheikh Mansour’s time at the club has been City’s failure to make an impact in Europe.
City have been as far as the Champions League semifinal just once and they were eliminated by Premier League rivals Liverpool in the last-eight this year.
“There have been so many great things, but the one disappointment that will stay with us is that we could have done better in the Champions League,” Al Mubarak said. “We should have [done better].
“The positive thing is that that is going to give us so much more hunger, knowing how close we were this year.
“We are on the right track, I feel good about the development that has happened in the Champions League for us over the last 12 months and yes I am disappointed but I am optimistic because of the standing we have.”
Al Mubarak said the club will strengthen the squad with Pep Guardiola already identifying one or two targets that will add quality to his squad.
“As always when we look at what we need to do to add to this squad we do it earlier, even before we won this league and before we broke all these records, we’d made our decisions from January in terms of what this squad needs this summer, so it will be business as usual,” he said.
“You have seen us operate over the last couple of years and you will see the same this year. We know exactly the targets that Pep has identified what he needs and we will support him in the same way we have supported him since he joined us.
“It’s not going to be about numbers, it will be about quality for us this year. We don’t need six or seven. We already have a squad. We need one or two additions of quality, high quality to support the squad and that is what we are going to do.”
Jonathan is ESPN FC’s Manchester City correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @jonnysmiffy.
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