Manchester City sold

Per Ives Manchester City has been sold to an Abu Dhabi investment group. Citeh has had a bid for Berbatov accepted. What a coup that would be for Citeh to steal him out from underneath ManU.

 

I have watched Citeh the last two weeks and they are very solid, if they get Berbatov, 5th place is very possible. I know they started out hot last year as well but they are solid in the back, middle, and upfront. They may push one of the bottom 2 of the Big 4 for 4th. They man-handled both Sunderland at Sunderland and West Ham. Good game against Villa in a loss as well.

 

Citeh got Robiniho and Manure did get Berbatov.
Per Sky Sports.

 

Re: RE: Manchester City sold

Beat me to it MK, haven't seen Citeh having been sold though.

 

Abu Dhabi Group on verge of City deal

As for the Robinho deal... I'm utterly stunned. That's all I can say.

 

Wow, that Robinho deal is something, isn't it? Word was that Chelsea were in for him. Transfer price is said to be 42 million Euros.

 

So....is City now the new Chelsea or does is that mantle held by QPR?

 

No, City is the new Chelsea. Apparently the ownership group has more money than Abramovic and are willing to spend big bucks to make their club the "biggest in the EPL".

 

Wow from what looked like a season heading for disaster for Citeh they are suddenly taking a big step in the opposite direction. This is big news.

 

The new owners said that their aim is to finish in a Chamions League position by 09/10. They have the funds, as they showed yesterday, to make it happen. Lodging bids for Berbatov, David Villa, Mario Gomez and Robinho simultaneously. For crying out loud, they broke the record transfer fee on their first day at the helm.

Big Four be forewarned...

 

Holy Smokes.

When I first heard about Robinho and City I thought someone was having a laugh...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... nd&cc=5901

 

I wonder if Chelsea would have let SWP go back to Citeh if they had seen the big spenders coming on board? This begs the question that if Citeh are going to threaten the big 4 in the near future who do you see as being the team to drop a notch or does the PL become a big 5?

ManU and the Blue Poo seem unlikely to drop out of the big four. If Liverpool cannot sort out their ownership issues they could lose players to the Citeh cash splash but the most likely candidate to drop seems to me to be Arsenal. If Wenger tries to keep his rigid wage structure and holds to his aversion to the transfer market I could see Arsenal losing players faster than Wenger could develop them.

What I expect however is that the big four will in time become the big 5 and Citeh's newfound cash infusion will only drive the price of players up for everyone else in the soccer world including Wenger who will be forced to pry open his wallet to keep his young talent in place.

 

Villa for top four!

 

I see Liverpool (infighting among cash-strapped American owners) and Arsenal (spendthrift manager at a club with a stadium to pay off) being the bigger risks for falling to #5. Abramovich isn't going to stop throwing money at CSKA London; it's his hobby, and you always feed your hobby.

 

People do occasionally tire of their hobbies.

By the way, Wenger knows what he's doing in the transfer market (Arsenal fans say "In Arsene we trust" in the same way we say "In Roy we trust") and has money available to get the guys he wants (Nasri didn't come cheap, nor did Walcott, or Rosicky, or even Sagna), but he's excelled at finding talented players early in their careers and acquiring them for much less than they would've cost if signed a few years later (Fabregas free, Toure £150k, van Persie £3M, Adebayor £3M, Bendtner free, Clichy £250k). I think he's a prick for raiding other teams' youth systems for their best talent (Fabregas in particular pisses me off), but you can't deny that the guy gets some great bang for his buck.

 

Oh Man...

I came back from my camping trip and find this... I have this sinking pit in my tummy! 10 times richer than Chelski's Roman, and crazy hell bent on getting in and winning the champions league?

This is a scary development for all clubs because it will mean and even wider gap from 4 to 5-8... (Where my Spurs should fall), and an even larger chasm between 4 and the 10-17... (Where I devote my 'small' club following to Fulham).

I do like it that Chelski fans are getting the displeasure of witnessing their owner have his pants dropped and he is no longer the 'best' man in the bunch. That makes me happy...

 

Great points Jens (especially about the scum fans having the sand kicked in the face).

A major concern for the "big clubs" has to be what will happen to the price tags/wages for superstar players. These guys seem intent on overspending at every turn. Part of me is happy that the Big 4 is undoubtedly squirming, but the flip side of the coin is that success will only be enjoyed by billionaire owners.