Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said his club wants to build a "constructive relationship" with European football's governing body Uefa. Uefa had banned City from European competition for two years after ruling they had breached Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations but the club won an appeal last month at the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have that verdict and sanction overturned. City also saw their initial fine of €30 million (Dh124.6m) reduced to €10m. The club had issued strong condemnations of the investigation but in an interview with the club's website on Monday, Al Mubarak struck a different tone when focusing on Uefa's Champions League competition, in which Pep Guardiola's side were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Lyon. "Life is too short to carry grudges. It is an important competition. It is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world of sports and it is a competition we want to win and it is a competition we have to respect in order to win," he said. "And this was a challenge, it’s behind us, end of story as far as I am concerned, I am focused on one thing. How I can help this club compete in this competition and win it and how to have a constructive relationship with Uefa, I think it’s the only way to go." City have already been busy in the transfer market, bringing in defender Nathan Ake from Bournemouth for a reported £40m and 20-year-old Spanish winger Ferran Torres from Valencia in a deal worth around £20m. Al Mubarak said the club had moved quickly to get those deals done but added that more new faces could be arriving. "We don’t take a one-year view, we take a three, five, 10-year view and when we look at what changes or improvements we have to make for this squad, we’re going to make them and we’ll be sensible and pragmatic about it but we will do what it takes," he said. "There are additional players we will be bringing in and we will stick to the plan, obviously within the realities of the market that we live in today. “If you look at the acquisitions we have made over the past couple of years, there’s a consistency in the type of player we have targeted in terms of age and quality. So we will continue down that road. “The age bracket, we are always looking at it as a priority for the first team, in that 20-25 year old category, that’s kind of the spot that we like. "At the same time, the reason I don’t like to box myself in with this answer is because sometimes opportunities come up that fit with what the manager wants and with what we need for the squad that might be out of that box and if that’s the case, we’re pragmatic enough to make that move. “So nothing is set in stone. We clearly have a way of doing business in terms of targets that are well defined but at the same time, we’re pragmatic enough to take the opportunity if that opportunity comes up.” Al Mubarak also hailed Kevin De Bruyne as the “future of the club” and expressed his delight at the Belgian midfielder being awarded the Premier League Player of the Season. “I was very pleased, very pleased because it is so well deserved,” Al Mubarak said. “It was a combination of being pleased but also a bit relieved. I was worried because we have seen it before with City players, them being overlooked for this very important award and I was worried that Kevin would be overlooked this year, because in my view it was unquestionable. “My vote was clear, obviously it is subjective because of who he plays for, but Kevin is the best player in the league this year. He’s earned it, he’s shown it and I’m glad he got this appreciation and respect from the football world. “He has become and important leader of this group. He is really the future of Manchester City Football Club and all I can say is well deserved and well earned.” ___________________________________________________
