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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2015 20 Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL 20 Sport Manchester City group sells 13% to Chinese investors CHINESE investors are paying $400 million (£265 million) for a stake in the group that owns football clubs including England's Manchester City and New York City FC, the country's most sig- nificant overseas investment in the game. The consortium is led by China Media Capital (CMC) Holdings and CITIC Capital and will take a stake of more than 13 percent in City Football Group. The deal values the Abu Dhabi-owned City Football Group at $3 billion, it said on Tuesday. The new investors will seek to expand the sport in China, where President Xi Jinping is an avid fan who wants to host the World Cup one day and make the underper- forming national team more com- petitive. Xi visited a state-of-the-art academy which the City Football Group has set up for young play- ers in Manchester during a visit to Britain in late October. The deal involves the issue of new shares in City Football Group in addition to those owned by Sheikh Mansour's Abu Dhabi United Group. Investment from Sheikh Man- sour has transformed the fortunes of Manchester City since 2008, and the club won the English Pre- mier League in 2012 and 2014. Ruigang Li, chairman of state- backed media company CMC, will join the board of the City Football Group. "Football is now at a fascinating and critical stage of development in China," he said in a statement. "We see unprecedented growth opportunities in both its develop- ment as an industry, being China's most watched sport." CMC already owns a slate of sports media rights, including for Chinese Super League football in a deal reportedly worth more than $1 billion and the national teams. The capital from the share ac- quisition will be used by City Football Group to fund its China growth, further international business expansion opportunities and on infrastructure. The Chinese investment is the latest foreign backing for a club in English football's lucrative Pre- mier League. City's local rivals Manches- ter United are controlled by the American Glazer family and also have a valuation of around $3 bil- lion. Arsenal and Liverpool are also owned by Americans, while Russian Roman Abramovich is Chelsea owner. The deal shows interest in foot- ball as an investment, as the value of television rights soars, but was also strongly motivated by the de- sire to raise playing standards in China. "It's about creating a Chinese infrastructure for football and acquiring competencies," said Simon Chadwick, professor of sports enterprise at Salford Uni- versity in northern England. "I don't think this is just a ran- dom purchase," he added, high- lighting City's investment in the academy in Manchester to help nurture young players. Chinese investors have shown increasing interest in European football. Property group Dalian Wanda this year bought a 20 per- cent stake in Spanish club Atleti- co Madrid. Seeking to increase its income after heavy investment in Man- chester City, the club's owners have built up a network of linked clubs around the world. City Football Group now also includes New York City FC, Mel- bourne City FC and a stake in Ja- pan's Yokohama F. Marinos. Gerrard presence a boost - Klopp STEVEN Gerrard's mere presence at Liverpool's training ground will provide his old colleagues with a boost, according to manager Jur- gen Klopp The 35-year-old Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder was back in familiar surroundings at Mel- wood on Monday as he joined his former team-mates at train- ing to maintain his fitness during the post-season break for Major League Soccer. Klopp has already stressed that Gerrard will not be adding to the 500-plus appearances he has made for his hometown club over the next few weeks, yet he believes his inf luence will still be felt dur- ing his time back on Merseyside. Asked about Gerrard's arrival at training on Monday, the German joked: "He won't play (against Southampton)! But he was in good shape. "I said to the team before train- ing, when he was with us in the dressing room, it's completely normal. It should always be like this. "If you are a player like Steven Gerrard in Liverpool then the doors have to be open always - that's how it is at the moment. It's an important sign for all players. "If you behave like him in the club, if you always give everything you have, then it's easy to come back and that's how it is at the moment. It's a good situation. "He was a very important player and at this moment he is a very important player because he is in training. "Everybody had a smile on their faces when they saw Stevie. It's good to have him here. We hope we can help him and he can help us for sure only with being in the dressing room - it's good." Steven Gerrard displays his passing skills in a Liverpool training session at Melwood on Monday