Manchester City unveil head-spinning £200million Etihad Football Academy, even as Lionel Messi envies the finest training facility in world football

Words of Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour on the marble

We are building a structure for the future, not just a team of all-stars.’ – Sheikh Mansour, September 2008

Those are the first quotations one reads on entering the new £200million City Football Academy. Some may have doubted the Sheikh’s prophecy when Manchester City struck oil. After all, plenty of silver-tongued foreign owners have not walked the walk for Premier League clubs.

Aerial view of the  £200million Etihad Football Campus

Six years on and words are no longer required as the CFA officially opens its doors. City not only have their team of all-stars and two Premier League titles, but that structure is well and truly in place. And what a structure it is. It remains the iconic image of City’s success under Abu Dhabi rule.

I’ve never seen anything like this,’ says Pablo Zabaleta, who signed for City the day before the takeover in 2008. ‘We came here with the Argentina national team when we played against Portugal last month and the players were very impressed with it – even Lionel Messi.

The long-term vision invested in the new facility suggests it will not be the last.

Welcome to the finest training facility in world football.