Noel Gallagher reveals what would have happened to Manchester City without Sheikh Mansour’s takeover

Manchester City fan and music legend Noel Gallagher has revealed what he believes would have happened to the Etihad Stadium club without their current owner.

Mansour first acquired City from the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2008, before the Abu Dhabi United Group – backed by Mansour – completed their takeover negotiations and the ownership was transferred to them by the end of the month.

The 53-year-old also owns the City Football Group, which was first founded in 2014 and now consists of not only the Premier League champions, but also Melbourne City FC, New York City FC, Mumbai City FC, and several other clubs across the global game.

Despite his intense investment and close eye on proceedings at the Etihad Stadium, Sheikh Mansour has only been to two Manchester City games in his time as owner, in 2010 against Liverpool and 2023 for the UEFA Champions League final against Inter in Istanbul.

Speaking during an exclusive interview with The Athletic’s Daniel Taylor, Oasis legend Noel Gallagher admitted that without the purchase of the club by Sheikh Mansour, Manchester City would be in a similar situation to Everton, or possibly worse.

“When I explain it to Sonny, my youngest lad, I think the perfect analogy is: ‘If you want to know what it used to be like, look at Everton’,” Gallagher admitted. “If (Manchester) City hadn’t been bought by Sheikh Mansour, it would have been takeover after takeover, all sorts of f***wits coming in, failure and broken promises.”

He continued, “I look at Everton at the bottom of the league, points deductions, and I think: ‘There but for the grace of God go us’. Because that would have been us, or possibly even worse.

“I’ve got two lads who are City fans. The eldest one is more into girls. But my youngest, who’s 13, is aware how lucky he is. His first memory is the Sergio Aguero moment. I’m always telling him, ‘You were born at absolutely the right time’.

“He’s seen nothing but glory. But I say to him, ‘You’re going to have to go through pain eventually when Pep Guardiola leaves’.”

Mansour’s investment on Manchester City extends much further than the club’s star-studded playing squad, and the management team that has driven the club to exceptional heights and broken the elite in the European game.

City have since seen themselves move away from their former Carrington training base to a state-of-the-art facility adjacent to the club’s Etihad Stadium, known as the City Football Academy and wider Etihad Campus.

The expansion of the club’s facilities in east Manchester has not only redeveloped a desolate area of the wider region, but also created a vast number of job opportunities for those in Greater Manchester.

That investment has continued further, with Manchester City currently in the process of further expanding the capacity and facilities on offer within the Etihad Stadium, including the construction of an on-site hotel.