Manchester City chief Ferran Soriano says their global push is working.

Soriano insists setting up international partners will strengthen the club's local ethos - not weaken it.

Last week, Soriano gave a stirring speech in front of a 400-strong crowd at the Etihad Stadium during the Supporters Club Annual Dinner.

And he declared: "In the three-and-a-half years that I've been here, I've seen lots of great things. One of the most important is I've seen the birth of a family. We have a club in New York, we have a team in Melbourne, we have another sister team in Yokohama in Japan.

"I was in New York last week for the first game of the season, and there was somebody from Manchester with me that at some point in time said, 'why are we creating a team in New York?' And I can guarantee all of you, if you had been with me, in New York last Sunday, with thousands of people dressed in sky blue rooting for the team, New York City, you would have felt something very special.

"So I said to my colleague who asked me why are we doing this, I said 'okay, think about it, how would you feel if you were walking around a stadium in New York seeing 30,000 people dressed in red supporting New York United?' What we are doing is great and it helps Manchester City, and it takes Manchester City to the 21 century. It takes us to be global why we are still and always will be local and rooted in Manchester."