Could Manchester City finally put their 33 year major trophy drought to bed this season by winning the UEFA Cup this season? Why not, what  with Ajax crashing out last night at the hands of Marseille and Zenit St Petersburg and CSKA Moscow losing today, the competition for the trophy is getting into the nitty gritty stage and it seems to be opening up for City. Mark Hughes side has been wildly inconsistent, putting 6 past Portsmouth and 5 past Hull City, but dumped out of the League Cup by Brighton on penalties and were humiliated at home 3-0 by Nottingham Forest in the F.A. Cup but they’ve been impressive in the UEFA Cup both at home and abroad this season. With only one away win in the league, it’s been a strange season for the City faithful.

Tonight they travel to Northern Jutland to face Aalborg with a 2-0 lead and a chance to move into the Quarter Finals for a real crack at the trophy. Yet, Manchester City have a history of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory which is unparalled in English Football that has seen their fans develop a very healthy ability to laugh at themselves. Surely this could be their season to finally put a proper smile on faces of the City faithful? It’s certainly a weaker UEFA Cup than it could have been with AC Milan, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Fiorentina, Bordeaux and Valencia all being removed from the competition before we even reached the last 16.I don’t think Mark Hughes will be upset to see any of those sides out at all. Their first 11 is certainly as good as some of the remaining teams in the competition, maybe one of the best, so it’s not impossible to imagine City lifting the trophy in Turkey on May 20th.

City though have perhaps received a little too much stick this season for me. Sure they’ve become the richest club in the world but it’s still a transitional season for them. Thankfully for us, Chief Executive Gary Cook seems to have kept a very low profile after his rather childish comments about AC Milan and Kaka in January, which is a blessing for us all. His rather acidic nature and bombastic attitude doesn’t sit well people and attracts as much criticism as it deserves, but Hughes has also had a fair amount of flak, unfairly I feel. It’s a learning curve for everyone at Manchester City, ever since the Robinho signing, they’ve suddenly moved onto a different level but they’ve got their best chance of some serious silverware for a long time in the UEFA Cup.

If they can negotiate tonight’s away leg, which knowing City, is no forgone conclusion, then the key teams to avoid are Werder Bremen and whoever wins in the tie of the round, Galatasaray v SV Hamburg. Martin Jol’s team have a lot to do and need to score in Turkey tonight to have any chance to get through but if they do, then they’ll become the favourite for the cup. If City can avoid those teams, then reaching the final becomes a realistic proposition for Mark Hughes. I hope they do get there, he’s dealt with rumour and counter rumour all season with supreme patience, fending questions about his future, transfers, ongoing issues with certain big name players and the change in expectations once Manchester City were ought by the Abu Dhabi United Group, with courtesy.He deserves a bit of luck after everything that’s been thrown at him throughout the season.

I wish them all the best in Europe and hope we get a Hamburg and Manchester City final for the last ever UEFA Cup final before we welcome the Europa League next season.

British newspapers are reporting that Manchester City are considering an incredible $197 million bid to sign AC Milan’s Kaka. It seems that the Abu Dhabi United Group are quite adamant about signing Kaka, but will AC Milan relent? Vote now.

Imagine an all-star team of footballers featuring the top names in the sport. Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres, Thierry Henry, Robinho and David Villa. Now imagine all of these players on the same team, Manchester City.

Before yesterday, that notion sounded ridiculous, but now that the Abu Dhabi United Group is in charge of Manchester City, it seems very plausible.

“We are going to be the biggest club in the world, bigger than both Real Madrid and Manchester United,” said Al Fahim. “We’re not just going to spend money on anyone, but if we can get the biggest players in the world, and of course if the manager wants them, then we will get them.”

The ramifications from such an ambitious move by Manchester City will change the entire sport. When you have an investor with seemingly unlimited funds that makes Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United look like poor cousins, you know that the rules have changed.

With all of the money flooding in and out of England yesterday, expect FIFA and UEFA to sound the alarm bells within the coming days warning that money is ruining the game and is shifting the balance of power to Premier League clubs.

Both FIFA and UEFA should be worried. If the Premier League continues at this pace and more Middle East investors purchase English clubs, the Premier League will become the defacto world leader. The Champions League, while a massive revenue generator, will be less appealing when clubs such as Manchester City buy the trophy. And when you compare what the Premier League could be versus the World Cup, the Copa Mundial will seem far less appealing especially when club football is bigger and more powerful than playing for your country.

The danger of what’s happening within the Premier League is that the league could explode just as quickly as it’s growing right now. If in 2-3 years from now, the Middle East owners decide to sell the clubs, there are very few — if any — investors in the world who would be able to pay the inflated player wages that an all-star team would demand. The only option would be to declare bankruptcy.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. The Premier League is now the world’s soccer league and has little, if anything, to do with England anymore. England has simply become the fields of grass where the matches are being played. The only thing missing from the Premier League becoming truly the world league of soccer is playing matches overseas, and the wheels are already in motion for this to happen. Just wait.

When Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 and splashed £600 million to-date on the football club, few would have expected that a rival billionaire would outspend Chelsea’s owner. And even fewer would have predicted that the club would have been Manchester City.

But Manchester City has done it by being taken over by the investment company for the Abu Dhabi royal family, making waves with an audacious bid for Dimitar Berbatov, David Villa and Mario Gomez, and securing the capture of Brazilian superstar Robinho right under the noses of Chelsea.

Incredibly, the Abu Dhabi United Group manages oil reserves worth an estimated $1 trillion. In comparison,  Abramovich has a net worth of $23.5 billion. Forbes magazine ranked him as the fifteenth richest person in the world.

When was the last time that Chelsea got embarrassed in the transfer market? In this window, they put so many of their chips in signing Robinho that by failing to do so, they’ve lost a lot of power in the business of English football. In just one day, Manchester City outdid Chelsea with the Robinho signing and would have signed Berbatov if he hadn’t been so gungho on signing for Alex Ferguson’s side.

By ploughing massive amounts of money into the Premier League, Manchester City has bought itself into the Big Four. Now Mark Hughes has to prove that his team are worthy of breaking into the Big Four.

In the meantime, where were the other Big Four clubs in the transfer window? Crickets were chirping at the Emirates Stadium on transfer deadline day. Liverpool got rid of Steve Finnan and Andrei Voronin, picking up a few youngsters from around the world as well as left winger Albert Riera from Espanyol. The longer that Arsenal refuses the advances of investors such as billionaires Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov, the further the Gunners will fall away from the pack of the top clubs in England.

It’s easy to get caught up in the transfer dealings today, but the biggest news is that the Premier League has changed forever beginning today. The new oil money of Abu Dhabi will be the first of several English clubs that will be bought by Middle East billionaires in the next few years. While Europe and the United States are suffering from the credit crunch, the Middle East has the capital to buy any players they wish thereby dramatically driving up the transfer fees and wages in the Premier League. At this rate, there’s no turning back.

My concern is how the Abu Dhabi United Group will change the face of the Premier League. Manchester City’s chief executive Garry Cook has already dicussed the idea of turning the Premier League into more of a NFL model with no relegation and promotion, to protect the financial interests of clubs such as City.

The buyout of Man City by the Abu Dhabi United Group is a massive win for Manchester City, the Premier League and the chances of the Premier League playing league games overseas. It’s awful news for the other 15 clubs in the Premiership who will find it impossible to compete both on and off the pitch with the big clubs.

Is this the end of the Premier League as we know it or just the beginning of a new chapter in the league’s history? Share your opinions below by clicking the comments link.

Marca, the daily Spanish sports newspaper, is reporting that Real Madrid has accepted a £32.5 million bid for Robinho. The audacious bid by new Man City owners Abu Dhabi United Group was made at the last minute, and now we await whether Chelsea is willing to match or exceed the bid with less than 90 minutes remaining in the transfer window.

By the time the transfer window closes, it’s possible that Man City may have secured the transfer signings of Dimitar Berbatov, Robinho, Mario Gomez and David Villa.

Manchester City has increased its bid for David Villa, but according to Valencia, they have no interest in selling the player. Let’s see if that changes by 7pm ET/midnight UK time tonight.

What is known about the Abu Dhabi United Group, the new owners of Manchester City Football Club?

Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG) is the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi royal family. ADUG is expected to be represented on the new board by Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim (pictured below), the chief executive officer of Hydra Properties. Through Hydra Properties Al Fahim is already involved in several sports sponsorship deals, and is building a new football academy in Abu Dhabi with Inter Milan.

Hydra has signed over US$2 billion worth of projects, and has become one of the region’s fastest growing property companies, with major projects planned in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Dr. Sulaiman Al Fahim is known as “The Donald Trump Of Abu Dhabi.”

Abu Dhabi is the capital and second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after Dubai. It is also the seat of government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. Approximately 850,000 people live in Abu Dhabi as of 2008. One of the world’s largest producers of oil, Abu Dhabi has actively attempted to diversify its economy in recent years through investments in financial services and tourism. Abu Dhabi city is the seat of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, which is ruled by Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, – the President of the UAE.

The Abu Dhabi United Group is part of the oil rich state’s sovereign wealth fund ADIA which manages £500billion of assets and is the world’s second biggest institutional investor, behind the Bank of Japan, according to the Oxford Business Group.

Abu Dhabi manages oil reserves worth an estimated $1trillion (£555billion).

Dr Al Fahim has studied at American business schools, receiving his PhD in Real Estate Investment and an MBA in Finance and Real Estate from Kogod School of Business from the American Universtity in Washington DC.

Dr Al Fahim is ranked number 16 in the Arabian Power’s list of the 100 Most Powerful Arabs this year.

The multi billionaire plans on doing for Manchester City what Roman Abramovich has done at Chelsea. Dr Al Fahim is prepared to break transfer records and to develop a relationship between Abu Dhabi and Manchester City with the possibility of City playing friendlies or Premier League matches in Abu Dhabi.

Manchester City has placed bids to capture the signings of David Villa and Mario Gomez before the August transfer window deadline ends in less than six hours at midnight UK time.

“We have bids in for three players,” said Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, head of the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG). “There is Berbatov, but there is also David Villa and Mario Gomez. We have bids in for Villa and Gomez and I am waiting to hear whether we have been successful with those (offers).”

Man City has already had a bid accepted by Spurs for the signing of Dimitar Berbatov, but the Tottenham Hotspur striker has to decide whether he wants to play for Manchester City, stay at Spurs or wait to see if Manchester United can meet or beat City’s bid for the Bulgarian international.

Villa is one of the top strikers in Spain having scored 59 goals in 100 appearances for Valencia. He has 36 caps for Spain and has scored 18 goals for his nation.

Gomez, meanwhile, is currently at Stuttgart where the striker has scored 41 goals in 92 appearances for his club, and has scored 6 goals in 15 caps for Germany.

Without a doubt, this may turn out to be the maddest day in the history of Manchester City with the club being taken over by an Abu Dhabi group, having a bid accepted for Berbatov and putting in bids for two of the top strikers in Europe, David Villa and Mario Gomez.

So, the shortish reign of Thaksin Shinawatra has finally come to an end.

None too soon perhaps for Man City fans settling down to some Pepto Bismol after that ridiculous and probably unnecessary roller-coaster ride.    While stern looking Premier League officials waxed on about ‘fit and proper persons,’ it was clear that the former Thai Primer Minister with the dubious human rights record would provide the sort of leadership the Premier League could do without.

Things started off well, as they often do in these early ownership periods.  Sven Goran Erikson managed to turn City around after a dismal and almost fatal two-year run under Stuart Pierce.  The club did the double against Manchester United, and City looked to be on the upswing.  Fans were happy.  Players were happy.  But as so often happens with massively-wealthy persons with a track-record of abusing human rights, Shinawatra wanted more, more, more.

Seemingly off in his own world, which is apparently like Football Manager with unlimited funds and the difficulty setting on ‘Easy,’ Shinawatra got incensed at City’s respectable ninth place finish and Fair Play UEFA Cup spot.  Like a petulant forum poster, he demanded Erikson get the sack, all to the delight of Man City fans who lashed out at their owner at the end of the season to, surprise surprise, no avail.

So on to Mark Hughes, and then, mercifully, Shinawatra’s tax evasion stuff back home, and today the selling of the club to an Abu Dhabi consortium.

So it’s a clean slate for City, right?  Brand new owner Abu Dhabi United Group representative Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim reported today that, “Our goal is very simple: to make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premier League, and to begin with to finish in the top four this season.”  So, back to realistic expectations then.  And all that for the glory of the club, right?

Al-Fahim again: “We in Abu Dhabi United Company for Development and Investment are keen to develop ways to provide support and care for various sports activities to help build and develop a new generation of young State, which represents the real wealth and the future of this nation and the cornerstone for building the future of our civilisation.”  Well, the glory of the UAE, Manchester City, you know, either/or.

So not only are Premier League football clubs the playthings of the super-rich iron fists of the world, they are also propaganda arms for super-rich oil nations with their own stake in the human rights game.  Arab consortiums, American Football team owners, Thai Prime Ministers on the lam; it’s all starting to resemble a Tintin comic.  While City fared pretty well in comparison with other clubs destroyed by hubristic ownership (Leeds Leeds Leeds!), this in-one-day, out-the-next ownership system does not suit the slow-progressing and unpredicabtle world of club football outside the Top Four, as the number of administrations and point-deductions in the lower tiers reveals.

Early signs are for City are not good.  Perhaps at thrity-two million pounds, Berbatov will come in and somehow do for City what he could not do for Spurs, i.e. lead them to a consistent top four finish…yet the star-striker as club-saviour tactic only works normally when the player is Pele or Maradona. It may be that the Abu Dhabi United Group are beneficent owners with all the best intentions for one the most storied clubs in England, but a few hundred million pounds, a hope, and a prayer does not a sustainable business model make.

Richard Whittall is author of the curmudgeonly footbaholic web log, A More Splendid Life.

Manchester City officials have confirmed that a Middle East company is in the process of taking over the club from Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra.

A memorandum of understanding (i.e. a statement of intent) has been signed between between the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) and Manchester City Football Club Limited.

“A period of due diligence for all parties, including the FA Premier League has now been entered,” according to a statement made by Manchester City.

ADUG reportedly paid £200 million to buy Manchester City.