The north’s ‘powerhouse’ is Abu Dhabi, not George Osborne | David Conn

George Osborne, not the sort of chap traditionally associated with Manchester City fans, opened the club’s astonishing new training academy this week, hailing it as a “benchmark” for investment in the north of England – where, he tells us repeatedly, he is creating a “powerhouse”.

The complex, built in one of Manchester’s and Britain’s poorest areas by Sheikh Mansour of the ruling Al Nahyan family in oil-rich Abu Dhabi, is the ultimate hothouse to train footballers for City and Mansour’s other clubs in New York, Melbourne and Yokohama.