Manchester City's owners are on the cusp of buying Italian side Palermo, The Athletic understands.
City Football Group already own a number of other clubs worldwide, including Melbourne City FC, Girona, Troyes, New York City FC and Yokahama Marinos.
It is a holding company, with 78 per cent owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group and minority stakes owned by American firm Silver Lake and Chinese firms China Media Capital and CITIC Capital.
They are now looking to add the Serie B team to their portfolio. Palermo went bankrupt in 2019 and began again as a phoenix club in Serie D, the fourth-tier of Italian football.
But they have rapidly risen back up through the ranks, earning promotion to Serie B earlier this month by winning the play-off final against Padova.
Owner Dario Mirri recently told Gazzetta dello Sport: “We'll have to persuade who is coming in that we're not a satellite club, but much more.”
Palermo play at the 36,365-capacity Stadio Renzo Barbera stadium and – prior to their dissolution – won Serie B five times and finished as runners-up in the Coppa Italia three times.
(Photo: Francesco Militello Mirto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)