Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak has paid tribute to sacked manager Roberto Mancini.

Mancini's sacking was seen as ruthless by some considering the Italian delivered the club's first Premier League title, as well as the FA Cup.

But Mubarak believes it was time for a change and a new direction at the top.

He explained: "Roberto has done a great job for the club and everyone associated with Man City should be deeply appreciative of what he has done for the club. I have the highest regard for Roberto.

"But it was time for City to make a change. We need something new - we need a change of direction. The decision was made for us to part ways.

"We obviously want sustainable success for this club.

"The decision on the manager is the most important decision for any football club.

"We need alignment in terms of long-term vision, alignment in terms of the type of football we would like to see this club play across the board at all levels - not just the first team.

"That's a very important aspect in our decision.

"The type of person we'd like to see running our football team is someone with a great man-management capability and an ability to get the very best out of the talent we have and the youth we have.

"We want him to establish a systematic approach towards movement from the youth team, the reserves and all the way to the first team."