Are Man City in The Big Five Now?

By: Daryl | September 2nd, 2008

Though I’m sure the Man City takeover has been brewing for some time, for the general public it all happened in a flash yesterday. All of a sudden Man City were (all but) owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group for Investment and Development and had insane amounts of money to spend.

They livened up transfer deadline day with that audacious attempt to snatch Dimitar Berbatov from under Man Utd’s noses, and after allegedly bidding for all kinds of other players (David Villa, Mario Gomez, the 1970 World Cup winning Brazil team) they finally snared a prize in Robinho.

You don’t need me to tell you that Robinho looked destined for Chelsea yesterday morning, until Man City arrived on the scene. The final fee was around €40 – 42 million, with wages said to be €6 million a year after tax. That’s some serious money. It’s not 100% clear whether City outbid Chelsea or Real Madrid just refused to sell to the Scolari’s team. Either way, Man City have announced themselves as a major force.

So the question is: are Man City one of the big boys now? We know that Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are the Big Four because the best players gravitate that way and because they always finish in the top four and make the Champions League.

But are they The Big Four because they have the most money? Or because they finish in the top four and make the Champions League?

Man City can’t offer Champions League football this season, or a shot at the title. And it’s still an outside bet (though you’re welcome to take it) that City will finish in the top four and make the Champions League for next season either. And you could argue that Robinho only joined City because he desperately wanted out out out of his nightmare at Real Madrid.

But seems Citeh can outspend Liverpool and Arsenal and match Man Utd and Chelsea for transfer fees and wages (as they did yesterday) and so could conceivably be competing against them in the market for big players. So this is a watershed moment for the Premier League. The first time since the establishment of The Big Four that a club from outside of it has had both serious money and the willingness to spend it.

So is it The Big Five now? Does Man City’s newfound spending power force an expansion in membership of the Premier League’s elite clubs? Or can it only ever be the Big Four, with Champions League qualification the pre-requisite for membership?

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Category: English Premier League

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BlueDevilBrad

According to James Tyler of The Unprofessional Foul (via Soccer By Ives) maybe it's not even the Big Five... maybe we're actually looking at a new Big Three (Man U, Man City, and Chelsea).
http://www.soccerbyives.net/so...
matt

alot of it hinges on robihno actually playing well and staying there.
Rob

I think really its a big 4 because of the Champions League. But I think Arsenal and Liverpool will be geniunely looking over thier shoulders over the next two or three seasons, because the big 4 could change now. Really a breath of fresh air potentially.
McTalian

menat "locked into place"
McTalian

I hope it is. The more parity the better.
In Italy and Spain there are legitmate contenders from outside the established cadre of top few teams for CL spot.
England, while providing fantastic title races among te big boys, has had a top four locked into replaced and slightly reshuffled amongst itself for a few years.
Maybe this will shake that up.
Django

Sheesh, some sexy Arab doctor comes in waving the cash and all of a sudden everyone turns into a 47 year-old woman at a Kenny Loggins concert, getting hot flashes and talking about forever. I'd guess January will be most telling, but for now I will sit and chuckle about my wife calling him "Robin-ho".
Citizen_Skin

I think you are all forgetting that Liverpool (and to a lesser extent Arsenal) are looking very vulnerable.
Even in the last few seasons teams like Everton and Villa have been knocking on Liverpools door.

All that combined with the fact that City have actually got a VERY good team now...

...I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a very different looking top 6 come the end of this season and that's exactly what the Premiership needs.
jiggaloblue

we will not be in the CL for at least two maybe three seasons but if we do get there and the money stays we will stay for a very long time.
ZT

Chill a bit. It´s about results, and titles, and being on the Champions league. A club does not become a "big" club by splashing money specially not during one season. It took Chelsea seasons and seasons of spending recklessly for them to get any status in world football.

And there is no room for 5 big clubs in England, a big club has to be in the CL. Ocasionally maybe it can fall off it, Milan is still unarguably a big club, but in world football if you can not play in the CL, you are not important. In fact the Robinho transfer is ridiculous, he says he wants to be the best player in the world and can not achieve it in Real Madrid and he moves to Manchester City who if they are lucky will win the UEFA cup this year.. you got to wonder if he thought he was signing for another Manchester team!
jiggaloblue

just done my maths and that means in dollars we have trillionaire owners lol
jiggaloblue

Even if the premiership was owned by billionaires we would still be able to spend more than them.

Roman at Chelski worth £23billion including assets.

The Arabs. Family worth £120billion worth of business' assets £620billion so I dont think we need to worry.

Also if Robinho doesnt work and we lose £10million on him forbes have puplished that the Arab Group make around that much profit every 36 hours so I am sure that they wont feel it

CTID
matt

It's not the big 5 in terms of league standings, i don't expect Man city to be getting into the top four this season or next for that matter. They are a mid-table club with a lot of mid-table players signing Robinho isn't going to change that. I'm sure they will within 5 years, but by that time, who knows what other clubs will have been bought by rich owners. imagine if all 20 EPL teams are owned by billionaires, now that would be interesting.