Khaldoon Al Mubarak: “Our executives are being targeted by the best teams in the world”

The Manchester City chairmen has a lot to say as he gives his end of year interview where he tackled many topics from the PL charges, the team winning a treble and a whole lot more.

Let’s dive right in-

On PL charges

“These are proceedings that take whatever time they take and when we’re done, we’ll have a conversation. I’ll give you my very blunt views, I promise you. I have very strong views, but I’m going to be unfortunately very restrained today.”

On City running well

“...as a whole is very well run. Today, the value of this group is over six billion dollars. We’ve created so much value – we’ve brought in world class investors. Why? Because we have a commercial machine here that is one of the best in the world...”

“Our executives are being targeted by the best teams in the world – always. By the way – it’s a credit to us. I respect that. People appreciate that we are producing – not just the best talent on the pitch, not just the best talent in the academy...”

“Not just the best talent in the group, but some of the best execs in the world, best scouts, best sporting staff. That’s a testament to the great work this group is doing...”

“We’re the number one football brand in the world. These are the facts; these are the facts.”

On club atmosphere

“The atmosphere at the Etihad this year, and I think it’s something for all of us to take for future, it’s become truly a fortress. What the fans give to the team spills over in performances. Look at Real Madrid 4-0, Bayern Munich 3-0, Leipzig 7-0...”

“I hope and I wish we can just take this now to another level. The Etihad is becoming what we always hoped for, which is truly the 12th man we always needed. The Etihad is becoming what we always hoped for, which is truly the 12th man we always needed...”

“And the players appreciate it. The coaches appreciate it. We appreciate it, the management team. Thank you. Really. Thank you to the fans for that.”

On consistency

“Man City are arguably one of the most consistent teams in the UCL for the last ten years, consistently in the group stages, going forward. Look at just the last five years - quarter-finals, quarter-finals, final, semi-finals, final and winning...”

“We’re building a legacy for Man City, a new modern legacy. This modern legacy is in the modern#PL and it’s the last ten years, it’s the last 15 years... [But] you always can top it because the future is the future and records are records...”

“As we’ve done every year, we keep building this incredible legacy with new achievements, new records, [and] consistency. You look at next season and guess what? Look what we have next year. Look what we have this summer...”

“We have the Charity Shield, we have the Super Cup, we have the Club World Cup. For the first time, this club is going to be competing in the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup. And we want to win these. We want to win these...”

On ownership/thinking about new year

“I’m already thinking about next year. There’s a joke between me, Ferran [Soriano], Txiki [Begiristain] and Pep [Guardiola]. When we had our moment, we looked at each other and, it was: ‘OK, now we’ve got to do it again!’”

“For Sheikh Mansour, everything he’s given to Man City, the commitment, years of support, love, passion, at the pinnacle, the UCL Final, to be here, he has so much love for this club and working with him over the last 15 years, he deserves this...”

On club revenue

“City generates tremendous revenue. Look at our sales in terms of what we produce, from academy, first team. Look at last year, our net spend. We can go on for half an hour with me giving data of net spend over the last season, three years, five, ten...”

“Look at every single one and look at these as facts and compare us to competition. Then people will throw at us ‘the biggest spenders’, ‘you have the biggest squad’. I wish people can pause and ask the question, get the facts, then comment.”

On squad & manager

“City have a high-quality, small squad. But it’s not what I think is the perception, which is that we operate with a huge squad. That is not the case. That’s also something that we’ve been pretty consistent on over the last couple of years...”

“Our manager prefers to work with a smaller group. Here it’s important to note and thank our medical team/physios. They’ve been phenomenal, and are such a critical component to the success and to your question in terms of the size of the Man City squad...”

“We came in to the #UCL final with a fully-fit squad, in a year where there’s a World Cup, a year when we were competing in every single competition, with a relatively small squad, every important game, we arrived almost with a fully-fit squad...”

It is refreshing to have such clear vision and leadership at the top at the club. From management, to business the club lets the hired folks do their job and that shows in the commitment given to them from the Chairmen and owner.