Man City owners ‘eyeing’ eleventh club with Palermo purchase to be complete in ‘coming days’

Manchester City’s owners the City Football Group are looking likely to add an eleventh club to their portfolio with the purchase of Palermo in the ‘coming days’.

According to Sky Sports Italia, representatives from the CFG have travelled to Milan to discuss a potential takeover of the Italian club with their President Dario Mirri.

They claim that talks between Mirri and the Sky Blues’ owners have been ongoing for ‘a couple of months’ and have advanced in recent days.

Palermo, who recently achieved promotion to Serie B, went bankrupt in 2019 and were relegated to Serie D as a result of this.

A potential takeover for the CFG could only be seen as a good thing for Palermo, with the investment expected to help the club return to Serie A in the future.

The Italian club has a history of notable former players, including Paulo Dybala, Javier Pastore, Andrea Belotti. Luca Toni and Edinson Cavani.

All the clubs Man City owners own

If purchased, Palermo would become the first Italian side to join the CFG’s portfolio, which boasts teams such as New York City (United States), Melbourne City (Australia), Girona (Spain), Troyes (France) and Lommel (Belgium) to name just a few.

The City Football Group, who bought the Sky Blues in 2008, also owns Yokohama Marinos  (Japan), Montevideo City (Uruguay), Sichuan Jiuniu  (China) and Mumbai City (India).

If the rumours are true, how could this potential purchase affect Pep Guardiola’s side?

Well, as with other affiliate clubs of City, the Catalan will be able to loan young players to them in order to gain first team experience and potentially lead to game-time when they return to the Etihad Stadium.

However, it is highly doubtful that this news will be weighing on Guardiola’s mind, with the Catalan focusing on the new 2022-23 Premier League season in August.

The Sky Blues, who will be looking to win a third consecutive title, will begin their campaign with a trip to the London Stadium to take on West Ham United.