City flash the cash as new billionaire comes to the party

Manchester City fans woke up this morning to find they were suddenly a force to be reckoned with in the Premiership.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer but, as statement signings go, the capture of Brazil forward Robinho – who was courted by Chelsea all summer – for a record British transfer fee certainly sends out a pretty clear message.

It seems there are two categories of foreign owners in the Premier League: The mega rich, such as Randy Lerner or Malcolm Glazier who can get their cheque books out whenever there is a pretty convincing case; and the super-mega-stupidly rich, of whom there are just two - Roman Abramovich and (you’ll soon be familiar with the name) Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim.

These men take ‘investment’ (can it be called investment - they’re not getting a return are they?) to a whole new level by simply throwing a blank cheque book at the manager and saying ‘help yourself’.

In fact, Al Fahim seems determined to out-Abramovich Abramovich with his threats to spend whatever it takes to ‘bulldoze’ his way into the top four.

Now if I was a Man City fan part of me would be jumping with joy as I envisage the prospect of enjoying a level of football unprecedented in the Blue half of Manchester and seeing the types of players fans could previously only dream of donning the sky blue shirt.

But in all the excitement part of me would be slightly concerned.

As the most honest Chelsea fans will admit, this billionaire backing is not always all it’s cracked up to be.

I know they can put up with the accusations that they ‘bought silverware’ and the fact that they now rival Manchester United for unpopularity among neutrals.

The real downside can be summed up in two words… Andriy Shevchenko.

Jose Mourinho’s departure was the first sign that the dream could turn sour as he could not abide by letting Abramovich make decisions – Shevchenko was an Abramovich acquisition not a
Mourinho one.

One has to wonder how much input Mark Hughes has had, or will have, into the transfer policy at City and whether, as a more demure character than Mourinho, he will stand up to boardroom interference in on the field issues.

But at the end of the day, why shouldn’t these investors ‘interfere’ with playing matters?
They bought the club, bankrolled it and made this dream possible, how can the manager (who is no doubt paid a ridiculous salary by the billionaire) then be in a position to say ‘butt out, I’m the boss’?

Whether the Arab consortium will seek to influence the playing side is yet to be seen, what is a concern is that Hughes – although a top young manager - is not ‘their man’ and it is only natural for someone making such a massive investment to appoint someone they trust to oversee the most important area of the business.

I hope Man City fans enjoy the ride – they deserve it after the ups and downs over the last couple of decades – but I just hope they head into the future with their eyes open.