The City Football Group own Premier League winners Manchester City.
Over the last decade or so, the company founded by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has acquired stakes in several clubs in Europe (Girona), South America (Club Atlético Torque), North America (New York City FC), Asia (Yokohama F Marinos and Sichuan Jiuniu FC) and Australia (Melbourne City FC).
If La Dernière Heure’s journalist Jean-Marc Gheraille is to be believed, the City Football Group may add another European team to the list because he claims Marc Coucke is considering selling Anderlecht to Manchester City’s owners, two years after buying the club.
Speaking to RTL, Gheraille said: “I think he’s [Coucke] got that thought somewhere in his head. He isn’t having fun at Anderlecht.
“With the arrival of Kompany and his links to City, I think he’s thinking about the idea of selling the club again, and losing as little money as possible by doing so, of course.”
There have been a few Manchester City links with Anderlecht over the past few months. After Vincent Kompany decided against extending his contract at the Etihad, he was appointed Anderlecht player-manager in the summer.
Simon Davies, who worked as a coach at City, followed Kompany to Anderlecht and was appointed as head coach last month.
In the last transfer window, Anderlecht took Philippe Sandler on loan from the English champions, while Kompany also signed his former City teammate Samir Nasri. Ex-City forward Craig Bellamy was appointed as Anderlecht U21 coach.
It’s worth noting that there aren’t any reports to indicate the City Football Group’s interest in Anderlecht, just Gheraille giving his opinion over the club’s potential sale.
