City takeover completed

Former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra opted to sell the Premier League side after just over a year at the helm after admitting he lacked the finances to keep City moving forward.

ADUG had agreed a deal to buy City last month and sanctioned the British transfer record capture of Brazilian ace Robinho from Real Madrid.

The takeover has now been finalised, with the club's new owner determined to see City competing for honours in both the Premier League and in Europe.

In a letter to City fans on the club's official website, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan wrote: "Like you, we are excited about the future of the club, and we hope the securing of Robinho as a Manchester City player during the transfer window is seen as a signal of our very real intent. It has been an exciting two weeks for all of us all.

"My intention is that Manchester City has the very best people at its disposal, both on and off the field. For that reason I have asked my friend Khaldoon Al Mubarak, to take on the position of chairman of the club. My request to him has been to put together a board and executive team that is worthy of the heritage and potential of Manchester City.

"Khaldoon and I have agreed that the we will not be making any more announcements for a while as we really now need to sit down with the manager, executive chairman and key staff and put together plans that will, over time, get the club to where we want it to be. That is the stage we are entering now and as anyone who runs a business knows, this involves a lot of listening, and a lot of talking to many stakeholders and research and discussion before plans can be announced.

"We also want to make it clear that Mark Hughes is absolutely integral to our plans. We are lucky to have someone who we believe is the best young British manager; someone who has been successful on the global stage, the Premier League and of course as a player.

"We are ambitious for the club, like you, but not unreasonably so and we understand it takes time to build a team capable of sustaining a presence in the top four of the Premier League and winning European honours.

"We know a little of the history at City also and whilst we want to bring in the best players in the world, we also want to see the academy continue to develop talent and give Mark Hughes the chance to bring home-grown players into the team.

"We consider Mark Hughes to be one of the prime assets of the club. We will back his judgement in what players to bring in and we look forward to working more closely with him in the future. We are building a structure for the future not just a team of all-stars.

"In cold business terms, Premiership football is one of the best entertainment products in the world and we see this as a sound business investment. That being said, we understand that we need to put money in to get the club to where we believe it can be -and where we think you the fans want it to be."