'The huge resort in Dubai will be a self-contained metropolis covering 50 million square feet and including a whole series of stadiums, training facilities, sports schools and hotels.
As well as four cricket grounds and a Butch Harmon golf school, Dubai Sports City will also include a Manchester United football academy, ironically bringing the Irish investors' interests close to the football club once again.
Alex Ferguson has personally backed the United academy in Dubai, describing it as "one of the most exciting [sports] facility concepts I've ever seen."
Scott Lloyd, who runs Next Generation, and is the son of David Lloyd, who sold his eponymous sports club chain to Whitbread in 1995, said the proximity of its new site to the Manchester United facility was unintentional. "It's a slightly amusing coincidence, let's put it that way,"