It was Sheikh Mansour's money that turned a sleepy, underperforming club into champions elect.
They are all financially backed by billionaire sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
What's more, club owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan has shown a willingness to spend heavily when needed.
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Barclays issued the warrants to a Jersey company called PCP Gulf Invest 3, which represented the beneficial interests of Sheikh Mansour.
Etihad is based in Abu Dhabi, which is also the home of the Sheikh Mansour-led consortium that bought City in 2008.
The proposal would also mean owners such as Manchester City's Sheikh Mansour would be unable to provide their clubs with massive cash injections.
In a single three-month off-season in the summer of 2008 the whole plan changed with the purchase of the club by Sheikh Mansour.
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Among the other guests was the UAE's deputy prime minister, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, owner of Premier League football club Manchester City.
However, the 758 million shares associated with the warrants were bought at significantly below the market price and they now belong to Sheikh Mansour.
When Fleig joined the club in the summer of 2008 it was not yet purchased by Sheikh Mansour and Sven Goran-Erickson was still the manager.
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Neither Sheikh Mansour nor IPIC responded to questions raised by Panorama.
Sheikh Mansour insists, though, that the club are fully behind Hughes following a meeting involving the pair, club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and executive chairman Garry Cook.
Control of the company was then transferred from the Sheikh to IPIC, then from IPIC to an Abu Dhabi official and then eventually back to Sheikh Mansour.
"I find that both Mark and Garry share an ambition for success and the enthusiasm and capability to deliver on that ambition, " Sheikh Mansour told the club website.
He had travelled to Abu Dhabi during the week for a meeting with owner Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan that prompted rumours about the future of the manager.
City's oil-rich Arab billionaires Sheikh Mansour and club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak are set to bankroll a January spending spree with the intention of lifting City clear of the relegation zone.
Manchester City, which last weekend won the English title for the first time in 44 years, was bought in 2008 by Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.
Manchester City has been transformed by the mega money from the Arab world, owned as it is by Sheikh Mansour from the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
The Eastlands outfit was taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group in September 2008 and owner Sheikh Mansour has spent heavily on transfers and wages in his first two years at the helm.
Despite not winning a English league title since 1968, Manchester City moved up the earnings rankings from 10th to third this year -- largely thanks to the oil-rich deep pockets of owner Sheikh Mansour.
Hughes only took over at Eastlands in June, but the arrival of Sheikh Mansour and his company Abu Dhabi United Group as owners of the club led to a complete change of identity for City.
Since the takeover of the club in September 2008 by the group headed by Sheikh Mansour, City have paid large transfer fees for the likes of Robinho, Gareth Barry, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Joleon Lescott.
That's why Sheikh Mansour hired him and showed enough faith in him to sign off on a summer transfer campaign built around younger players with an upside rather than established veterans more likely to make an immediate impact.
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City, on the other hand, hasn't won the English title since 1968 and played unremarkably for the better part of four decades until Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi royal family bought the team in 2008.
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But the strain of owning a team that competes with the likes of Russian Roman Abramovich's Chelsea, Emirates Sheikh Mansour's Manchester City and the U.S. billionaire Glazer family's Manchester United appears to be pushing 51-year-old Yeung's resources to the limit.
Manchester City is the latest rags to riches story, where billionaire Sheikh Mansour bought the team in 2008 and has since spent over 300 million pounds on players to get the club its first ever English Premier League title in 2012.
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"Roberto's record speaks for itself and he has the respect and gratitude of Sheikh Mansour, myself and the Board for all of his hard work and commitment over the last three and a half years, " said chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in the City statement.
The club's poor form has generated speculation that new owners the Abu Dhabi United Group, who are backed by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and bring unrivalled spending power to the top flight, may lose patience with the team's inability to find consistency on the pitch.
Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, an emirati sheikh who bought Manchester City in 2008, makes even Mr Abramovich seem stingy, which is why the club won the Premiership in May.
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