Manchester City have not made a £150million bid to buy Brazilian outfit Atletico Mineiro, despite rumours suggesting otherwise.
Reports in Brazil claimed the City Football Group (CFG) were interested in adding Mineiro to their growing portfolio, but Mirror Football understands this is not the case.
CFG own 10 football clubs across the world, including the reigning Premier League champions.
Mineiro are one of the biggest clubs in Brazil, based in Belo Horizonte. They're the reigning league and cup champions, also winning the Copa Libertadores in 2013 when, inspired by Ronaldinho, they landed South America's biggest prize.
Manager Antonio Mohamed's squad includes Brazilian icon Hulk, former Premier League star Eduardo Vargas and Atletico Madrid legend Diego Godin. Diego Costa was also part of Mineiro's roster last season.
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Several Brazilian clubs have been sold to foreign investors in recent months, including Botafogo, Cruzeiro and Vasco da Gama.
CFG's footballing empire began in the summer of 2008, when Sheikh Mansour completed a takeover of Man City - the club where the company's name derives from.
CFG have since created MLS outfit New York City and added Australian side Melbourne Heart to their portfolio, renaming the latter club Melbourne City in June 2014.
The company have already purchased one South American club - Uruguayan side Club Atletico Torque - in 2017. They're today known as Montevideo City Torque.
The final club to carry the City branding are Mumbai City - the reigning Indian champions - who were added to CFG's portfolio in November 2019.
CFG also own shares in Belgian side Lommel, Spanish club Girona, Chinese outfit Sichuan Jiuniu, Japanese giants Yokohama F. Marinos and French team Troyes.
CFG have achieved significant success since the project started 14 years ago, winning five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, six EFL Cups and three Community Shields.
They've also won the Australian, American, Japanese and Indian league titles, while their women's teams have been champions in England and Australia.
"It's unique, it's not a model that's been replicated so far," Dr Robert Wilson - a football finance expert at Sheffield Hallam University - told Goal in April 2021.
"Manchester City, the City Football Group, needed to do something to achieve a competitive edge over their competitors because, historically, they weren't as valued as a property as someone like Manchester United or Real Madrid or Barcelona.
"In order to do that, they strategically chose to grow the profile of the sky blue, and exposure of the brand of City Football Group, and that led them into mature territories."
Wilson went on to say: "they're steadily picking up clubs in these developing territories, they want to get a foothold in these new markets that European football can get into.
"United have done very well in the Far East and Middle East but they have not been as successful in Australasia and North America.
"What CFG has done is put down roots in those territories, and that drives interest."
