Manchester City Football Club has today (8 December) opened the doors to the club’s new City Football Academy (CFA) – reported to have cost £200m (US$312m, €255m) – following a four-year project.

The new facility in East Manchester – a stone’s throw from the club’s Etihad Stadium – forms a key part of plans to regenerate the former industrial wasteland. The two-year building phase was led by BAM Construction working to designs by Rafael Vinoly Architects.

The English Premier League champions will use the facility to train its current stars – as well as future prospects in the club’s youth teams – and has also worked to ensure parts of the facility will be available for use by the local community, particularly schoolchildren.

In addition to 17 pitches and three gyms, the site boasts a 7,000 capacity stadium for Elite Development squad teams, Manchester City Women’s FC and community use.

Manchester City star Pablo Zabaleta believes the investment will help the club produce a steady stream of talent from its youth ranks and also help to lure established stars.

“For City to become a top club not just in England but also in the world, you need this – a good training ground,” he told reporters ahead of the CFA launch.

“Top players always want to train at good facilities. If you have to sign players to improve our squad, they are probably going to be big players coming from top teams in Europe and they have to see that City is one of the top clubs in the world. Having these facilities just makes it special.”