Manchester City owner Sheik Mansour secretly bought the oldest surviving FA Cup trophy for £760,000, Sportsmail can reveal.
David Gold, the co-owner of West Ham, opted to sell the cup last year and there were fears that the trophy - in use between 1896 and 1910 - could disappear from the UK.
Mansour stepped in to buy the second edition of the FA Cup, considered an item of international historic significance by the Arts Council, at auction in September. City will loan the trophy to the National Football Museum indefinitely.
Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour has bought the oldest surviving FA Cup for £760,000
The specific trophy holds special significance for City, whose victory in 1904 was their first taste of success and is credited with switching the region's loyalties away from rugby.