Burnham, Man City Owners and the Council Deals Explained
Andy Burnham said he would be "really concerned" if Manchester City's owners pulled out of the club.
The Greater Manchester mayor spoke as Sir Richard Leese defended the council's business relationship with Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG). The BBC, in an article titled 'Ex-Manchester leader defends deals with Man City owners', said Leese said the link had been good for the city BBC.
Sir Richard led Manchester City Council for 25 years until 2021. He served as Mr Burnham's former deputy. He is honorary president of Manchester City.
The deals in question
City Football Group, which is majority owned by ADUG, bought Manchester City for £200m in 2008. In 2014, the council and ADUG formed a shared firm called Manchester Life. In a joint venture, both sides put money and land into one company to deliver a project. The plan was to invest more than £1bn over the next decade and build thousands of homes in Ancoats and New Islington, near the Etihad stadium.
A 2015 deal then gave ADUG effectively first pick of land in Ancoats and New Islington. Sir Richard said that land deal was brokered by the UK government with the UAE government.
That sale is disputed. In 2022 the University of Sheffield published a report called Manchester Offshored, which raised questions about value for money and openness. The authors said the joint venture companies were ultimately owned by ADUG through firms registered offshore, outside the UK. They said land was leased to ADUG at below comparable rates, below the price paid for similar land. They said the schemes contained no affordable housing BBC.
Sir Richard rejected that account. He said the deal was "good for the city". The Manchester Evening News said he defended Abu Dhabi's investment and said the city had benefited Manchester Evening News.
The Guardian, in an article titled "How success of Manchester City helped put Andy Burnham ..." on 1 October 2026, described the claim that working with the club's owners had not been a good deal for the council or the city as a "tired claim".
The Premier League began to examine Manchester City's financial dealings in 2018 and charged the club in 2023. Sir Richard said the owners "are clear they are innocent". He said the club "will prove its innocence" Observer.
The broader context here is familiar to Westminster and town hall watchers. A council supply of land, a shared delivery firm and an ownership chain registered abroad have become tied to questions about club ownership and the mayor's political base. Specialists weigh who held the freehold risk, what similar land prices were used for the leases, how public value was judged without affordable housing, and where Whitehall approval ends and council accountability begins. Sir Richard said the city needed large scale capital and got homes and regeneration. The Sheffield authors said transparency and value cannot be checked on the current paper trail. Mr Burnham said he does not want the investor to leave.
