Manchester City’s owners, the City Football Group (CFG), have acquired a 90% stake in Brazilian club Bahia, their 13th club, with the aim of boosting the growth of Brazilian football financially.
Bahia, which competes in Brazil’s top national league and has won the title twice, will become the third South American club in CFG, joining Montevideo City Torque in Uruguay and partner club Bolivar in Bolivia.
CFG boss Ferran Soriano stated that Brazil had great potential and was the “greatest source of talent in the world,” but the league was not developed economically as it should be.
CFG seeks to grow the championship and help Bahia reach its full potential while staying true to the club’s community, roots, members and the energy that makes Bahia and Brazilian football some of the most exciting in the world.
Soriano also cautioned that this is a long-term project, likening it to the work that took Manchester City to the top of the English game, which took 14 years to achieve.
