The former leader of Manchester City Council has defended the council's relationship with the owners of Manchester City amid questions over land deals.

Sir Richard Leese, who was head of the council for 25 years until 2021 and is also honorary president of the club, said a decade-old deal with Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) was "good for the city".

The partnership between the authority and the company owned by Sheik Mansour bin zayed Al Nahyan has come under renewed scrutiny since City was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial regulations with "sham" commercial contracts. The club has denied any wrongdoing is appealing against the charges.

The council entered into a partnership with ADUG in 2014 when they formed a joint venture called Manchester Life.

It planned to invest more than £1bn over the next decade and develop thousands of homes in the Ancoats and New Islington areas, on the edge of the city centre close to the club's Etihad stadium.

But in 2022, a report by the University of Sheffield, called Manchester Offshored, raised questions about the wider public value of the schemes, and a lack of transparency around their finances.

It highlighted the absence of any affordable housing in the projects, and that the joint venture companies were ultimately owned by ADUG through firmsed offshore.

A deal struck in 2015 saw ADUG effectively given the first pick of land in Ancoats and New Islington. The University of Sheffield report argued that land was leased to ADUG at "below comparable rates".

Sir Richard said the 2015 deal was "brokered by the UK government with the UAE government". "It was a time when development in Manchester had stopped," he said. "We were still suffering from the 2008 crash, from the recession that followed that.

"There was criticism at the time though - and there still is now - that the land was given away too cheaply by the city council. "The point is, the investment from Abu Dhabi is what created the value. "That deal allowed development to be kick-started - particularly in the Ancoats area.

"All of this was documented and went through reports that went through the council's due processes.

"I think it has been demonstrated that the deal was a good deal and a good deal for Manchester." Abu Dhabi's investment in Manchester City started in 2008, when City Football Group – majority-owned by ADUG - bought the club in a £200m deal.

With significant investment from its new owners, the club went on to win its first trophy in 36 years with an FA Cup win in 2011 and a dramatic Premier League title followed the next year. The club went on to win the league seven more times between 2013 and 2024.

But the Premier League began investigating the club's financial dealings in 2018, and City was charged in 2023.

Last week, it was announced the club had been found guilty of 115 charges, including some around a so-called disguised funding scheme, which was said to have seen the club's owners topping up sponsorship and commercial deals with their own funding running to more than £800m.

When asked last week about potential fallout from the City charges, Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who was metropolitan mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017 to 2026, said he would be "really concerned" if the owners were to pull out of the club.

He added: "They've been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester and the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is." Since then, it has been reported that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) may halt UK-wide investment schemes worth billions of pounds as a result of the Premier League ruling.

Sir Richard said he hoped that Manchester did not lose UEA investment, adding: "I think certainly Abu Dhabi will be thinking that they have been very badly treated given the contribution that they have made - not just to Manchester but to English football as well." He added: "I would be concerned if they did stop investing.

I don't think they'd give us up." Sir Richard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier that "the investment in Manchester from Abu Dhabi has been very significant".

Stressing he was not speaking on behalf of the club, he pointed to the investment in City, its training complex and the City Football Group headquarters.

He added: "I think for the city, one thing about working with Abu Dhabi is everything that they promised they have delivered.

"So they have real credibility in the city. That's something we'd want to maintain.

"I don't think any other football club has got anywhere near the sort of contribution that they have made to their local community.

"What has been created in Manchester City is a phenomenon really and that has to be maintained in some way whatever the final outcome of the allegations against them." Manchester City Council also defended the benefits of the partnership with Manchester Life as a "platform for future development".

"The claim that working in partnership with Manchester City's owners has not been a good deal for the council or the city has been debunked repeatedly," the authority said.

"Claims that some land was sold too cheaply to Manchester Life ignore the fact that there was zero market interest at the time of the sale, that the land is worth more now precisely because of Manchester Life's investment and the significant financial return the council is receiving through profit-sharing arrangements.

"Manchester Life was always envisaged as a platform for further investment. Its success should be measured in what it has delivered directly and what it has unlocked.

"The partnership was set up to deliver significant housing development, create an investor confidence and a platform for other developers to come into the market and invest in Manchester - which it has achieved." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.