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City Football Group, who own Manchester City FC amongst others, earlier today announced that it has increased its presence in South American football following two recently completed deals on the continent.
Firstly, the City Football Group can confirm the acquisition of Uruguayan Football Club, Club Atletico Torque.
The Club, which was founded in 2007, plays in the Second Division of the Uruguayan league system and has had two top six finishes in the past two seasons. This on-field progress, together with recently developed training and playing facilities, provides positive foundations upon which the organisation can build and grow.
The Club will be led by Uruguayan General Manager Luis Bruno, an experienced business leader and football executive, who held a board position at leading Uruguayan First Division Club Nacional de Football for seven years.
The acquisition marks City’s intention to invest in Uruguayan football, not only in terms of infrastructure at the club, but also in coaching, executive leadership, youth academy and the senior playing squad.
The investment, which has been fully ratified by the Uruguayan Football Association, sees City further strengthen its ties to Uruguay following existing successes in talent identification and recruitment, most notably in the case of Melbourne City FC’s star player Bruno Fornaroli, record holding goal scorer and A-league golden boot winner for 2015-16 season.
Further to the investment into CA Torque, City Football Group has also entered into a collaboration agreement with Atletico Venezuela of the Primera Division of Venezuela.
The partnership, which will see Atletico working with and benefitting from City Football Group’s scouts and scouting methodology, was signed following a recent visit by senior figures from the Venezuelan team. The collaboration enables both parties to share extensive scouting data and also includes the provision of coaching support to Atletico during a number of agreed visits to Manchester.
Together, the two deals mean that City’s scouting presence on the continent is doubled.
Speaking of the developments, City Football Group Chief Executive Ferran Soriano said, “We are pleased to take this next step in our football development operations.”
“The investment in CA Torque enables our organisation to build on existing connectivity in Uruguay and helps to expand the options for identifying and developing local and South American talent.”
“This move also provides us with an administrative hub for our pre-existing scouting operations in the region and provides a footprint for City Football Group in South America.”
“I am also delighted to start a working partnership with Atletico Venezuela to the benefit of both clubs. The collaboration agreement allows us to share knowledge, insights and hard data, all of which enables us to further complement and increase our scouting and recruitment operations on the continent.”
