“Manchester United must be one of the most famous football teams on the planet, and certainly in the UK. I remember being approached by young children in Thailand who only knew five words of English: ‘Manchester United’, ‘David Beckham’, and, of course, the ubiquitous ‘hello’. Actually, six – because they asked me if I was ‘English?’ before telling me of their appreciation for our best soccer exports. Now, with the news that the a mega-rich Arab consortium has bought rival club, Manchester City, I can only presume that Manchester’s renown will now go stratospheric. As an ELT destination in the UK, Manchester is not a major player, but with anecdotal reports of Arabs and Chinese interested in owning a bit of Manchester (the club was sold by the ex-Prime Minister of Thailand, incidentally), I think it is only a matter of time.”