But Burnham, an Everton fan who served as mayor of Greater Manchester before becoming prime minister, praised the achievements of the Abu Dhabi United Group, which has owned the club since 2008 and is led by United Arab Emirates Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

“I would be really concerned to lose them,” Burnham told the BBC. “They’ve been such a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester and obviously the building of Manchester City into the global force that it is.

“I do actually thank the City Football Group and the wider ownership for the money that they didn’t just put into the Etihad [Stadium] and the campus around it but also into the city.”

The prime minister said he will not intervene in any disciplinary process despite the suggestion that punishing City could have a significant impact on U.K-Abu Dhabi trading relations.

Burnham said he was “of course” confident his own interactions with City’s owners when he was mayor would stand up to scrutiny.