A tale of two Manchester Cities

In less than 24 hours, Arab investors' takeover of Man. City and their $71 million swoop for Robinho shocked the soccer world. Mauricio Duenas/AFP/Getty Images

Ladies and gentlemen, raise the curtain and welcome Manchester City Football Club onto the world stage.

A takeover of the club by the slightly ironically named, but mega-rich Abu Dhabi United Group -- an investment vehicle for the royal family of the Emirate -- has catapulted City from a mid-sized mid-table English Premier League club to a force that could soon dominate European soccer.

Events moved quickly. Staggeringly so. After agreeing to the takeover in principle, City's new owners-in-waiting had only 30 hours to strengthen the squad before the European transfer window shut. A few weeks earlier, a $20 million bid for Roque Santa Cruz was the height of City's ambitions; now it suddenly had the financial clout to bid for any striker on the planet. Manager Mark Hughes, like a kid with a $50 bill in a candy store, wrote his list, and what a list: Mario Gomez, David Villa and Ruud van Nistelrooy all apparently featured.

Spurs accepting City's $60 million lunchtime bid for Dimitar Berbatov really caught people's attention. Berbatov had openly been Manchester United's No. 1 summer target, but it had failed to match the asking price. For several hours on that most exciting of transfer deadline days, it looked like City would upset Sir Alex Ferguson's (probably fermented) apple cart. It wasn't to be though. United upped its offer and by dinner time, Berbatov was in talks at Old Trafford.

As that news broke, so did word of an even more audacious swoop by City: an accepted bid for long-time Chelsea target Robinho. City fans, fingers in mouths, waited for Chelsea to respond, but all was quiet at Stamford Bridge. Robinho, desperate to leave Madrid, and eager to join up with Brazil teammates Jô and Elano, signed a lucrative four-year deal that made him the EPL's highest-paid player.

One swallow may not make a summer, but City's plans for the future continue to a cause a stir.

"[Cristiano] Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world, so we will see in January if he is serious," the public face of ADUG, Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim, told Arabian Business, the publication that first broke the takeover news. "Real Madrid [was] estimating his value at $160 million, but for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more, I would think $240 million. But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United."

Al-Fahim intends on City qualifying for the Champions League by May 2010. Once there, City will have not only the finance, but also the prestige, to attract more of the world's best.

Oasis star and Man. City superfan Noel Gallagher noted that, "It'll be nice to know that every gallon of petrol a Manchester United fan buys is going into our kitty." The rivalry runs deep in Manchester, and it will only intensify from now.

City is unlikely to catch Arsenal or Liverpool this season, but is strongly fancied for fifth place. Even without the forthcoming January star signings, recent acquisition Vincent Kompany is a class act in defensive midfield, and Shaun Wright-Phillips scored twice in his first game back since re-signing from Chelsea.

In terms of other transfers very much in the background on deadline day, Everton's form has been generally poor so far and box-to-box midfielder Marouane Fellaini will be welcome in its engine room. The Toffeemen will be crossing their probably bandaged fingers that Louis Saha can remain off Everton's lengthy injury list. Martin O'Neill is a wise old fox and so, despite our initial doubts, we expect the $18 million Aston Villa spent on James Milner to prove worthwhile. Spurs will be hoping that a hard-fought point at Stamford Bridge, combined with the signing of Roman Pavlyuchenko, can kick-start their season.

As Manchester City moves into a stratosphere that should see it breaking into a Big Four near you very soon, events at two other EPL clubs couldn't have been more contrasting, but in their own ways are as bizarre as the goings on this week at Middle Eastlands.

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley had just about recovered from his pint-downing exploits at the Emirates last Saturday, and ironed his beloved "King Kev" Newcastle jersey in time to formalize a couple of particularly underwhelming transfer deadline-day purchases last Monday. Underwhelming to the point that it drove manager and Geordie messiah Kevin Keegan towards the exit door.