Pep Guardiola was appointed by Manchester City last February, formally arrived at the club in July, and has now been in charge for nearly eight months, but has only just met club owner Sheikh Mansour for the first time in the last few days.
City took the opportunity to head to Abu Dhabi for a warm weather break and training camp after the Manchester derby originally scheduled for the weekend had to be postponed to make way for the EFL Cup.
And it was in the Gulf sunshine that Guardiola got to finally personally meet the man who signs the cheques, so to speak.
#PEP: We met for the first time Sheikh Mansour and i was impressed with how he knew everything about us and it was nice to spend some time.
"We met Sheikh Mansour for the first time and I was impressed with how he knew everything about us," the former Barcelona boss explained at his press conference ahead of Wednesday night's FA Cup fifth round replay against Huddersfield Town.
"It was nice to spend some time [with him]," the coach added.
Sheikh Mansour, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, bought City in 2008. And although he has attended games at the Etihad Stadium in the past, the majority of the day to day business is handled by chief executive Ferran Soriano and director of football Txiki Begiristain (both pictured), while trusted advisor Khaldoon Al Mubarak serves as chairman of the board.
Sheikh Mansour, whose family's overall wealth is thought to be in excess of $1 trillion, is pleased with what is going on at his club, claims Guardiola,despite a few minor setbacks this season, and keeps well up to date with all the games and results.
"He is so happy. He sees all the games and he sees the effort [we put in]," Guardiola stated.
"He knows that we do everything [to win], that we fight until the end."
As far as the FA Cup clash with Huddersfield is concerned, City will still be without influential captain Vincent Kompany. The centre-back is yet to shake off his latest injury layoff and isn't quite ready to return, even though he has begun the 'last part' of his recovery.
The manager also has a decision to make about which goalkeeper he will pick, with the hapless Claudio Bravo having only played in the cup since being dropped in favour of back-up stopper Willy Caballero over a month ago. Guardiola said he will decide in the morning.
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