Manchester City shocked the footballing world yesterday when, in the dying moments of the transfer deadline-day, they swooped for Brazilian superstar and Chelsea target Robinho.
The move came after the clubs new owners, the Abu Dhabi United Group, failed in a similarly audacious attempt to take Dimitar Berbatov from under the noses of Manchester United.
More blockbuster signings are expected in January, but with the change in ownership comes increased expectation.
Can Mark Hughes deliver the goal of Champions League football within 3 years? If not, his tenure at Eastlands (now dubbed "Middle Eastlands") will be short lived.
Tell us what you think lies ahead for new-look City by answering our latest North Poll (on the right sidebar) or commenting here.
6 comments:
Two seasons, tops. Scary but true. Trillions, this guy's worth - and he's no interest in making more of it from City. Why on Earth wouldn't they make it?
We're also going to see DIC owning a Premier Legaue club in the next two months, I think. Possibly Newcastle, Arsenal, Fulham or Spurs an outside bet. When the Arabian rivalry kicks in it'll get very silly very quickly.
Michel Platini is not going to be a happy man right now, but there's nothing he can do.
The only thing that can go wrong with City is if the owner starts trying to manage the club. This isn't some Icelandic biscuit-salesman or Egyptian greengrocer we're talking about, and he's not put the club into its own weight in debt to buy it. They pay £1 a year lease on a big stadium with easy expansion capacity...
If I were a fan of Liverpool or Arsenal I would be assuming the brace position and kissing goodbye to the cosy guarantee of annual CL football, because one of them's about to lose it.
I don't see it myself. 4 or 5 years, yes. But not 3. Hear me out on this one...
Comparisons with Chelsea are wide of the mark. Prior to Abramovich's takeover, Chelsea finished 4th in the league, and 6th the two previous seasons. They'd also won the FA Cup in 2000 and reached the final in 2002. City's best Premier League finish is 8th and they haven't reached a final of anything (bar the football league playoffs) since 1981.
Chelsea had Mourinho and I don't think his unifying abilities can be underestimated. I like Mark Hughes, but I'm not sold on how he'll do when he has to gel 4,5 or maybe 6 new recruits in January.
Also, just because they have bags of money, doesn't mean everyone will want to play for them. Chelsea were already a contender and had some name recognition. I think you saw with Berbatov that the very best will still go to the "historically big" clubs. he said it wasn't about money and I suspect the majority of top footballers would make the same decision. At the moment, you're passing up Champions League football to join City and that's a big no no for most players.
With Robinho, I think you saw a desperate player being poorly advised. He made the same kind of move when he left Santos (I think he went on strike for a bit) but then Real Madrid were ready and waiting for him. This time, his actions, forcing a transfer, meant that when Chelsea were outbid, he ran out of options.
P.S. What are the chances of DIC eyeing up United? In this sort of climate, I wouldn't bet against the Glazers looking to cash in.
For the sake of the Northeast, please let it be Newcastle. I can't take any more of their insanity and I'm not even a supporter!
I see where you're coming from, and I certainly think that the fantasy wish-list of Torres, Ronaldo and Fabregas is absurd, but I'm going to stick to my prediction here.
I think Mark Hughes is actually a great manager for this kind of job. He's less Jose Mourinho and more Phil Scolari, but for me he's very well suited to this kind of team. Like Mourinho, he understands that superstar strikers are fine and dandy, but you can't beat a solid defence.
The other thing with Hughes is that he's been there as a player at three of the world's biggest clubs, and Chelsea to boot; he'll have a good idea of how egoes work.
Then, I think two of the top four sides are not as secure as they'd like to think anyway. Arsenal have a manager who refuses to buy any experience, while Liverpool have one who refuses to play players in their right positions - if he plays them at all! Neither club has the money to compete with any regularity for the truly biggest names in the transfer market.
On the recruitment thing, I think you can't overestimate how much legitimacy City will have gained with this move. Robinho is one of the true stars of the world game, and the name of Manchester City will be bouncing around dressing rooms and board rooms all over the football world. They won't pick up a whole team of that calibre players right away, but I bet they can get one that's good enough to push them into the top four.
I agree that Mark Hughes was a great player and has proven to be a good young manager, but he still has yet to win a trophy as a manager. When that happens, feel free to tell me you told me so!
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