Man City: The New Evil Empire

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It appears stealing the closing act was not enough, as Manchester City’s new owners would like to steal tomorrow’s matinee, the following evening performance, and the rest of the shows from here on out. Their point was made by the frankly shocking snatch of Robinho and equally as surprising bids for David Villa, Mario Gomez and Dimitar Berbatov, who went across town anyway. But what’s more is the sheer insanity of their plans to nab a certain star from across town, and the revelation that Robinho is now the highest paid footballer in the world.

To get particulars out of the way, Robinho now makes £160,000 per week. So clearly it was all about the football. But if Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim and the rest of his cohorts have their way, he won’t even be the most highly paid player in the Citeh starting XI come January:

“Ronaldo has said he wants to play for the biggest club in the world, so we will see in January if he is serious…Real Madrid were estimating his value at $160m (£90m) but for a player like that, to actually get him, will cost a lot more; I would think $240m (£135m). But why not? We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United…Al-Fahim also confirmed that Torres and Fábregas were among his targets as City look to bring in a “minimum 18″ players.”

The absolute arrogance of that claim is astounding. Being the biggest club in the world is about much more than financial clout and gilded signings. It’s about titles, prestige, longevity and then a couple more titles. At this point, to match Real Madrid’s accomplishments, City would have to win the next 29 Prem titles and 9 Champions League trophies in the near future. The prestige of wearing the historic blanco? Talk to me in 50 years.

But within England, the new owners at Manchester City have inexplicably managed to make Chelsea and Manchester United the lesser of two evils, not heightened objects of derision, absurd as it may be. At these rates Andriy Shevchenko and Dimitar Berbatov look like frugal purchases born out of financial prudence. Hell, Michael Essien looks like the bargain of the new millennium. It’s been obvious for quite sometime transfers between Prem clubs are a bit expensive, but where will they go with Man City’s now limitless checkbooks?

They’ve gone from human rights violators and fugitives to a vast chest of money which has swung the balance of economics in the world of football at the snap of a finger. If Robinho is worth £160k a week, how much is Kaka worth? Or Cristiano Ronaldo? Or, oh I don’t know, the thirty or so players in the world who are much better than he? How many agents do you think read the news and put in a call to their client’s employers this very morning? When that giant bid does come from the blue side of Manchester, how much further beyond their threshold will a club have to go to keep a player like Cesc or Fernando Torres? Yes, many athletes are reasonable and will weigh the pros and cons thoughtfully, but tell a guy he can double his weekly paycheck and he’ll push his grandmother out of the way to sign the contract.

Roman Abramovic has taken a sound lashing for opening the floodgates in London, but it was inevitable, and unfortunately so is this. A bigger, badder checkbook is on the way, ready to bigfoot the competition and remind us how good it used to be.

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Category: English Premier League, World Football