Man City chairman left two significant things unsaid in interview

Manchester City released their in-house interview with chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak this week and he had a lot to say.

The main message is that the club hierarchy are going nowhere. Sheikh Mansour attended the Champions League final in Istanbul and while City's win under Pep Guardiola could be seen as the culmination of a project Al Mubarak has made it clear that there are new targets ahead as they look forward to more years in charge.

What was also interesting was what wasn't in the two-part interview. In a chat that can contain anything the chairman wants it to contain, it is safe to assume that anything that doesn't make it in is deliberate.

Unlike in previous years where there have been strong words towards UEFA or the La Liga chairman, it was striking how measured Al Mubarak was about the Premier League charges. While indicating that he had very strong views that couldn't be aired in respect of the legal process, there was none of the fury or shock that ran through the club when they were first hit with the alleged rule breaches back in February.

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Despite the severity of the accusations, there has not been the same hostility with the Premier League as there was with UEFA and the league's chief executive Richard Masters presented the competition's trophy to Ilkay Gundogan at the Etihad last month. However hard City are fighting the case with their lawyers, Al Mubarak made a conscious choice not to ramp up tensions with the league when he was given a prime opportunity to do so.

The other notable omission from over 30 minutes of conversation concerned City's plans in the transfer market. Despite the usual updates on the