The statues were created by Scottish born sculptor Andy Scott who now lives in Philadelphia, with the entire commission process having to be conducted remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following completion of the statues, they were separated into four pieces and packaged so they could be transported by road to Chicago where they were flown on an Etihad Cargo freighter to Frankfurt, Germany.
From Frankfurt, they were moved by road to Manchester, ready to be unveiled at the Etihad Stadium on 28 August.
Martin Drew, Senior Vice President Sales and Cargo at Etihad Aviation Group says: “The complexity of this operation involved months of planning and technical expertise in close cooperation with the club. The successful delivery of this highly-confidential consignment demonstrated the teamwork capabilities within the Etihad network.”