Manchester City’s prospective new owners are studying plans to transform the club’s commercial brand on a global scale. The royal family of Abu Dhabi, the oil-rich Gulf state, are close to completing a £200 million takeover of City and are keen to make the club a household name, with Richard Branson’s Virgin empire an inspiration.

The plans, detailed in an 83-page document called A New Model for Partnership in Football, reveal a strategy that would lead to a significant rebranding and tap into markets as diverse as financial services, fashion, retail, transport, communications and the food industry. The document states that the club should aim “to be the Virgin of Asia and the world”.

Some of the ideas include deals with Tata, the Indian car manufacturer, for “Citycars” and China Mobile for City branded phone cards, a range of new energy drinks by Red Bull called “City Powered, City Energy and City 24/7”, food outlets under the name “City Eating” and a range of credit cards dubbed “Citycard”.

It is unclear whether any of the companies listed have yet to be approached by the ruling Al-Nahyan family of Abu Dhabi and Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim, the prominent Middle East businessman fronting the takeover, but they are understood to be seriously considering the proposals.

The Al-Nahyan family’s first aim, however, is to turn City into a super-power on the field. Al-Fahim suggested last week that they could make a £135 million bid for Cristiano Ronaldo in January, and David Gill, the Manchester United chief executive admitted that such an offer for the Portugal forward would have to be discussed.

“I can’t believe he [Al-Fahim] is serious at those levels and we are not looking to sell our best players,” Gill said. “Ultimately, we would discuss any offer with Alex [Sir Alex Ferguson] and the owners as that sort of money is very large for one person.

“It would turn the industry upside down, but he mentioned Fernando Torres and Cesc Fàbregas in the same article, so we can remain calm, wait and see what happens over the course of the next months and years and not worry about it too much.”