Sheikh Mansour's Man City investment set to exceed $1bn

Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s investment in English premiership club Manchester City is set to exceed $1bn as the club’s management look set to spend millions more boosting the FA Cup-winning squad this summer.

Research by Arabian Business shows Sheikh Mansour has invested £339m ($545m) in new players for the squad, starting with the record £32.5m ($52.2m) signing of Brazilian player Robinho.

In addition to the reported £210m ($337m) Sheikh Mansour spent acquiring the club in September 2008; this brings the total investment so far by the Abu Dhabi businessman to $882m.

With around $300m rumoured to be left in the war chest for new players, the total investment is likely to easily top the $1bn mark before the end of the current transfer season.

Manager Roberto Mancini, who led the squad to FA Cup victory earlier this year, has admitted he is already planning a summer spending spree before the transfer window closes at the end of August.

Earlier this month, Mancini told reporters his long wish list of potential players included Partizan Belgrade defender Stefan Savic, Internazionale striker Samuel Eto'o, Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri, Palermo midfielder Javier Pastore, Udinese defenders Pablo Armero and Mauricio Isla and Napoli players Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik and Edinson Cavani.

In May, club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said the club was likely to scale back spending on players after announcing a pre-tax loss of £121.3m ($192m) last season, the second-highest loss of any Premier club on record.

Despite this, Al Mubarak has said he believed the club is being managed "prudently" and he has no worries about meeting new financial targets being set by governing body UEFA.

Asked about UEFA's new rules which would ban clubs who exceed agreed levels of debt from playing in European competitions, Al Mubarak said it was a driving force behind how he ran the club.

The new rules, known as financial fair play, will be phased in from June and will allow clubs to be able to record maximum losses of €45m ($65m) in total over the following three years.

From 2014 to 2017, the overall permitted loss will fall to €30m ($43m) with the first possible exclusions from UEFA competition taking place in 2014-15.

“I am very comfortable, very confident with our financial operation," Al Mubarak told the club's official website in a video interview.

He added the club's qualification for the Champions League and the winning of the FA Cup would have "very positive financial implications" for club, adding that he had no worries about the financial side of the club.

He also said the club was exploring "every single commercial avenue", opportunities which he said were growing due to the success of the club this season.

Click here to view the cost and estimated market value of players currently in the Manchester City team since Abu Dhabi took over in September 2008