10 years ago Sheikh Mansour took over Manchester City... and football changed forever
Sheikh Mansour took over as chairman of Manchester City 10 years ago
The club have made huge strides both on and off the pitch in that time
Exclusive extracts from a forthcoming book tell the story of City's rapid rise
In exclusive extracts from a forthcoming book chronicling the Abu Dhabi United group's 10-year ownership of Manchester City, key figures reveal the inside story of City's remarkable rags-to-riches transformation...
'I signed my contract before I saw the training ground,' recalls Vincent Kompany, who completed his paperwork a week before the takeover in an office piled high with boxes at the City of Manchester Stadium [now Etihad Stadium].
'They would drive you out there when you signed your contract, but not before!' he adds with a laugh.
City's players from that period speak about Carrington, their former training ground, with a mix of nostalgia and disbelief that a Premier League side actually trained there.
Vincent Kompany and team mates train at Manchester City's old Carrington base in 2012
'I remember going to the toilet for the first time,' says Kompany, 'and it was two cubicles. One had a door and the other one had the door hanging off, almost. I thought, that's pretty interesting in terms of intimacy.
'There was a machine with weights where you couldn't really lift it because there was so much rust on it. If you had a gym session you'd always be at your maximum because just to move that one little weight you first had to go through all the rust.
'There was a punching bag that was half cut through the middle as if someone came in with a samurai sword. You had one glove to punch it, so you could develop an anomaly on one side from working out that way.' Kompany isn't done. 'And it was cold,' he adds.
Source :http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6119819/The-day-football-changed-10-years-Manchester-City-takeover.html
Source :http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-6119819/The-day-football-changed-10-years-Manchester-City-takeover.html
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