July 23, 2010
Barclays Premier League – Manchester City follows Chelsea’s example
By Andrew Hill
Building a champion was Roman Abramovich’s goal when he bought Chelsea Football Club in 2003, and the price to pay was not an issue for the Russian magnate, who invested approximately 118 million Euros on his first season to sign new players. Two years later his multimillionaire inversion gave its fruits, when the team commanded by Jose Mourinho won two Premier League titles in a row, and has been in the fight for the championship head to head with Manchester United every year since that.
The Blues have drawn the line to follow for those teams who can afford it, and so far the only team in the Premier League that can do so is Manchester City, thanks to the purchase of the club by the Abu Dhabi United Group, a private equity company from United Arab Emirates, in 2008. A significant percentage of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahya’s fortune, owner of the Citizens, has been destined to create a champion team just like Chelsea did, and give the city a change after Manchester United’s long dominion.
During his first year as owner, Al Nahya’s first bet was Robinho, who came from Real Madrid in exchange for 38 million Euros, and was called to be the leader of his project. Finishing the season in 10th place was a proof that the Brazilian wasn’t going to be enough to aspire for the title, and that a stronger investment needed to be done. This is why in the summer of 2009 big names were signed for more than 118 million Euros; midfielder Gareth Barry from Aston Villa, Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn Rovers, defender Kolo Toure and striker Emmanuel Adebayour both from Arsenal, forward Carlos Tevez from Manchester United, and centre-back Joleon Lescotts from Everton.
Things were better than the previous season with this new roster, but not as great as it had been expected. In the middle of the season Mark Hughes was replaced by Italian coach Roberto Mancini, who didn’t have an easy start facing issues with Robinho. The problem was solved with Robinho leaving the club, and returning to his former team in Brazil, Santos. The Citizens ended up in the fifth place, just three points away from the Champions League spots, and 19 points away from Chelsea, the champions.
This year they have continued with the policy of building a team that can fight for the Barclays Premier League title, and so far they are the ones that have done the biggest investment for this coming season, paying 35 million Euros for Valencia’s midfielder David Silva, a player who was also pretended by Barcelona. The Spaniards didn’t also loose the chance to sign Silva, but they also suffered the transfer of their defensive midfielder Yaya Toure to the Citizens for 32 million Euros. Now the Ivorian player will play along with his brother in this new challenge. But not only the midfield has been strengthen for this season, the defensive end has also been reinforced with Jerome Boateng, the 21 years old German international, who had a great performance in this past World Cup. He leaves Hamburger SV in return for 12,5 million Euros.
What will happen with Robinho?
The Brazilian is not part of the plans of Roberto Mancini for this season, added to that, Robinho doesn’t seem to have adapted to the British lifestyle, and many rumors have been going around his future, where he is placed as a bargain chip. The latest talk in town is that he will be exchanged with Internazionale’s Mario Balotelli, who is also pretended by Manchester United and Chelsea. Whatever the outcome is, we’ll keep you updated.
About the Author
Andrew HIll has been a prominent writer on regular International Football games, sports news and the sportsbetting industry for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.