Mansour pleased with progress

City owner confident success is on the horizon

Last updated: 1st July 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Mansour pleased with progress

Hughes: Progress pleases Sheikh Mansour

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Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour insists he is 'more convinced than ever' of the possibilities to turn the club into a major European force.

The billionaire businessman completed his takeover of the Premier League outfit last September and has set about transforming fortunes.

City have not won a major trophy since the 1976 League Cup, but Mansour has set his sights on long-term domestic success and glory in the UEFA Champions League.

A number of high-profile signings, the latest of which being Roque Santa Cruz, have raised hopes at Eastlands, and City's owner is pleased with the progress under manager Mark Hughes.

"We continue to be very clear in regard to our expectations and ambitions," he said.

"We are competitors. We are here to win and to build a club that will be in a position to win trophies.

Patient and pragmatic

"That said, we know that will take time, and this is where a patient and pragmatic approach will be essential.

"What we have done in the last 10 months sets the tone of the way we will do things very clearly.

"However, 10 months on since the acquisition I am more convinced than ever of the potential that is there to be realised.

"It was very clear that Manchester City was a sleeping giant of English football," he said.

"Waking that giant is going to be very rewarding on a number of levels."