City Football Group (CFG) and Goals Soccer Centres (Goals) have announced a joint venture which will see the Group team up with one of the world's largest and most popular operators of dedicated, 5-a-side pitches, to create and run leading playing and training facilities across the US and Canada, reports www.fcbusiness.co.uk

The sites will all be jointly City and Goals branded, with the new identity to be launched later this year.

City Football Group is the owner of football-related businesses in major cities around the world, including football clubs, academies, and technical and marketing companies.

The Group includes football clubs on five continents; Manchester City in England, New York City FC in the US, Melbourne City in Australia, Yokohama F Marinos in Japan and CA Torque in Uruguay.

The news comes as Pep Guardiola's Manchester City visits the US for the Club's pre-season tour, with games in Houston, Los Angeles and Nashville.

New signing, Danilo, will join Leroy Sane, Yaya Toure and Nicolas Otamendi at one of Goals' two existing US sites, in Pomona, CA, to launch the new partnership.