Aston Villa’s billionaire owner moves to Abu Dhabi fuelling unlikely alliance with Man City

As Manchester City scour for allies in their war on the Premier League, a new tenant setting up shop in Abu Dhabi can expect some knocks on the door.

Nassef Sawiris, Egypt’s wealthiest person, is moving his family office over, having announced a new “long-term commitment” to the UAE capital in December.

An increasingly close alliance could prove particularly useful for the City Football Group, given his controlling stake in Aston Villa. The Birmingham club, last season’s surprise Champions League qualifiers, are asserting themselves away from the pitch too, throwing ideas around on English football regulation. Flush with confidence after Unai Emery’s fourth-placed finish, the club’s board boldly tabled a demand at the league’s AGM on Thursday to increase allowable losses. Ultimately, the proposal was supported by just one other club, but any sense of alienation Villa may now be feeling is perfect timing for City, desperately in need of allies after declaring civil war.

Over the past season, there has been little sign in voting patterns that Villa have been supportive of City’s position. They have not joined the likes of Newcastle, Chelsea and Everton in rallying behind City’s attempts to derail tightening proposals around associated-party transactions.

But there are suggestions the clubs are edging at least closer to alignment, not least as Villa’s on-field performances have powered the club to new earning powers.

V Sports, Sawiris’ joint venture with American billionaire Wesley Edens, has had full control of Villa since 2019 and the holding firm is one of the league’s lesser known multi-club regimes, with a network that includes Portuguese club Vitoria SC and partnerships with teams in Spain, Egypt and Japan. In what could prove key to City’s lobbying hopes, the Egyptian billionaire is believed to enjoy a warm relationship with City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, which is only expected to grow closer as he spends more time in his new adopted working home.

Sawiris’ NNS Group joins a wave of global investors that have set up shop in the emirate. Dutch chemical producer OCI NV, where Sawiris is chairman, had already listed its joint fertiliser venture with Adnoc in the emirate in late 2021.

“I am delighted to announce our long-term commitment to the UAE and ADGM [Abu Dhabi Global Market], in particular,”  Sawiris said in December. “The importance of the UAE to the worldwide financial ecosystem makes NNS believe the transition of its key activities to the UAE will contribute to the further development and growth of its portfolio and core activities.”

Villa are not understood to be the undisclosed club in full support of City’s landmark arbitration hearing next week on spending controls. However, as Sawiris, the £5 billion businessman, settles in to his new working surroundings, his background and free-market sympathies make him a prime target as City pull every lever available to them.