Manchester City's Abu Dhabi owners are interested in buying a forty percent share in Italian giants AC Milan, the Corriere della Sera reported on Tuesday.
"The Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG) wants to buy forty percent of AC Milan's shares, injecting 500 million euros into the club's coffers," the newspaper said.
AC Milan, owned by Italian prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, issued a denial of the report on the club website, saying there was no truth to it.
Corriere della Sera said that ADUG owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, already owned five percent of Mediaset, the Berlusconi family's TV company.
The paper said that although Berlusconi has always insisted that his involvement with AC Milan was not financially driven, it appeared that the go-ahead had been given to enter into talks with ADUG representatives.
AC Milan's 210 million euros budget is the biggest for an Italian club, but they had 32 million euros of losses last year and Berlusconi was said to be growing tired of having to finance the side.
Berlusconi's daughter Marina, the president of the family holding Fininvest, was also said to be unhappy with the financial losses incurred by AC Milan, who are currently playing second fiddle in Italian football to city rivals Inter Milan.
{{/usCountry}}Berlusconi's daughter Marina, the president of the family holding Fininvest, was also said to be unhappy with the financial losses incurred by AC Milan, who are currently playing second fiddle in Italian football to city rivals Inter Milan.
{{/usCountry}}The ADUG group completed the purchase of Manchester City on September 1, 2008 and were behind a much publicised but unsuccessful transfer bid last month for AC Milan's star player, Brazilian midfielder Kaka.