The next super club in world football is a team from Manchester, but it’s not Manchester United. The richest club on the planet is a team which plays in blue, but it’s not Chelsea either. The club in question is English Premier League club Manchester City.
Manchester City was very recently sold to the Abu Dhabi United Group (UDUG), made up of individuals including ultra-wealthy United Arab Emirates royal family members and the multi-billionaire Sulaiman Al Fahim.
The new owners have such deep pockets and deeper ambitions that, in virtually their first move as new owners, they did the unthinkable – outbid – billionaire Russian Roman Abramovich of Chelsea for the signature of Real Madrid’s Robinho.
The Brazilian forward was long linked to a Chelsea move, and even came out himself saying as recently as two days ago: “The situation has not changed. I want to leave Real and play for Chelsea… I am only thinking of Chelsea and want to play there.”
One can only imagine what Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich is feeling right now.
Obviously not too concerned with ruffling feathers, City’s new owners next came close to hijacking Berbatov from local rivals Manchester United when they boldly launched a colossal bid of £34 million for the player, and simultaneously made a £40 million approach for Valencia’s David Villa.
These kinds of record breaking transfers seem to be symptoms of a football cold war in which the new ultra-rich club owners stockpile the best players by paying exorbitant fees which they will largely never recover.
Shaun Wright-Phillips ring a bell anyone? Or a certain Mr Shevchenko?
Some have described the UDUG’s wealth as “Abramovich times ten.”
And clearly Manchester City are not afraid to spend large chunks of this wealth under their new ownership. Tellingly, Al Fahim said today: “Money is not a worry to my board.”
While foreign ownership of clubs used to be a hotly contentious issue among loyal club fans, Manchester City’s new owners will almost certainly be welcomed by the fans of the club who have been on something of a roller coaster ride when it comes to their club ownership and administration.
And the UDUG is surely seen as a relief from the, shall we say, somewhat shady Thaksin Shinawatra, although he may still be involved in the club in some capacity.
Many Manchester City fans are planning on celebrating the new owners by wearing Arab headgear at their next match which is against Chelsea.
While many of the football headlines over the next few days in England may be about the British Transfer fee record payed by City for Robinho, there is no doubt that the larger issue that will become more and more interesting is what this means for the so-called dominance of the big-four clubs who are now in the shadow of a financial giant.
And one which is not afraid to spend large sums of money to meet its equally giant ambitions.
Manchester City fans must be jumping out of their skins right now.
Koala Bear
Guest
Slippery Jim, The Chelsea's magnificent 10 smash the Man City FC the richest club in the world ... 4 trophies this season; just call me Nostradamus .. ;) btw Nicky Carle scored .. The ghost of Nostradamus said; stay away from the SMH flog .. for a week ;) ~~~~ KB
Slippery Jim
Guest
Don't you know it KB - Maybe I should call you Nostrodamus!!!
Koala Bear
Guest
For years, we’ve taunted United fans for their relentless pursuit of the dollar and ridiculed Chelsea’s “nouveau riche” rise to the gentry. Now, all of a sudden, we’re part of it. Slippery Jim (Nostradamus) It seems like the shoe is on the other foot.. :D It won't do them any good though... 08~09 is the year that the Chelsea Lards will bathe in glory .. ;) ~~~~~~ KB
Slippery Jim
Guest
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24292053-23215,00.html From Simon Hill...a great read, I particularly like the quote from celebrity Man City fan Noel Gallagher of Oasis: “It’s nice to know that every gallon of petrol a Manchester United fan buys is going into our transfer kitty.”
Joe FC
Guest
Slippery Jim the clubs without it think that money will make all the difference. The clubs with it know that it does.
fatboi-v-
Guest
is this an opinion peice? or a cut and paste news article job. come on slippery jim lift son!
Pippinu
Roar Guru
It's big news all right. You know what this sort of thing did for your mob - there's no doubting that 5 doesn't go into 4, and that can only be good for the EPL as a whole.
Slippery Jim
Guest
It literally happened overnight, or in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It took a while before it struck me just how significant this was for football.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
SJ I must be well behind the times - this whole story has taken me a bit by surprise - the last time I heard Ciddy was owned by some corrupt Thai polly, with more black market dollars than good sense - has this story been brewing for a while or has it just come out of the blue all of a sudden? Does this help explain why Ireland and Elano are doing so well in Fantasy League after Ciddy's poor first round?
Slippery Jim
Guest
KB, funny you say that about being attracted to the colour blue, I read something similar on the Guardian blog! Hearteningly for Chelsea fans, Man City is not a club in the solid position either football-wise, fanbase-wise that Chelsea was prior to the Roman Abramovich takeover. Also, Roman is an actual football fan, recently travelling to watch the Super Cup for instance, and a regular at the Bridge of course, and has a good football brain and sensibility, whereas UDUG members seem to not give two figs for Man City in particular (and have said they could easily have bought Arsenal, Liverpool or Newcastle instead). Thank heavens they didn't buy the first two! They do not seem to understand football either, among the "minimum 18 players" they state they will bring in as their next aquisitions, they have targeted Ronaldo (the winky one), Ronaldo (with the bad teeth), Thierry Henry, David Villa, Mario Gómez and Fernando Torres - all strikers. Not one defender or goal keeper is mentioned. They obviously have never heard of the tried and true concept of 'building from the back'. Also worth mentioning is that when Real Madrid were flush with money and Florentino Pérez spent £358m on 20 players in his last three years at the club Madrid had their longest run without a trophy for more than 50 years. So even colossal sums of money do not equate to success without the correct football structure and understanding, which Chelsea have in spades. Perhaps we can sell the Arab royal family tickets to see our trophies at Stamford Bridge at seasons end, KB? I am sure Lady Diana would have approved of showing hospitality to fellow royals ;)
Koala Bear
Guest
Slippery Jim or should I say Nostradamus ? The colour blue seems to attract the billionaires and the best players in the world.. However, this year it's too late for those who seek glory wearing imitation Chelsea Blue or SFC Sky Blue ... Yes Lards.. too damn late.. for the 08~09 season. The finest carpenters that can found are employed at present, with the two best club sides in the world. Now extending both trophy rooms to makes sure there's enough room for the extra silverware coming our way this season ... :D ~~~~~~~ KB
Ben of Phnom Penh
Guest
I agree with SJ, the status quo needs changing. I'd prefer it to be with Nottingham Forest however I guess I'll have to bide my time..........
Slippery Jim
Roar Rookie
http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/english-premier-league/city-owner-wants-ronaldo-132572/ Somehow I think that Robinho's transfer record won't last past the next transfer window - these guys are playing with monopoly money. They may need to wait until a certain Sir Alex retires to get Ronaldo, however - all the silly money in the world would not prise away such an important player from their cross town rivals while Ferguson has a say in it.
Midfielder
Guest
Its just a step to the left and jump to the right.
Dave
Guest
At last Manchester will be able to have a real derby again, one in which the teams come from the same playing field. The rivalry will go up a few more notches. Cant wait for the first derby of the season where my Reds put those Blingers from City to the sword :)
Towser
Guest
F*ck the lot of them,dont they realise that The Owls are at the centre of the spiritual home of football. How about chucking a bit of the oil money our way so you can really see what support is. Chelsea ,Manchester & the rest nouveau pretenders. Oil money, Yank, Russian & Arab billionaires 35% foreigners in the EPL playing ranks. English Football? Even the EPL is arse uppards. Hull & Wigan int EPL Owls unt Blades int championship. Does anybody know how Danny Blanchflower played for Spurs last Saturday?
Slippery Jim
Roar Rookie
Midfielder, you obviously don't realise that I am a Chelsea fan too, but I think this is fantastic for Manchester City, for a number of reasons. Anything which upsets the current EPL status quo is fine by me.
Midfielder
Guest
SJ You must feel sorry for KB now, the Man City blues will have more money and more history than those london blue snobs of Chelsea ............ and as for the Flying Chopping Blings from the harbour city ........ well what more can you say than ........... brown paper bags under the bridge seen being handed over by old short grey haired man in a rolls wearing a choppers shirt. Have to keep the salary cap auditors away somehow ! ! !