The sale of Robinho has marked the end of an era for Manchester City. The Brazilian arrived with high expectations of taking City to the next level and in a strange way he has sort lived up to the expectations.

City fans will look back fondly to the day of Robinho’s arrival. He signing was the marquee singing on that eventful day and somebody that would make the world take notice of City’s new millions.

While his on the field impact was limited scoring just 16 times during his time at Eastlands ( a cost of over £2 million a goal) the Brazilian served his purpose and was able to help City gradually bring in the better standard of players they desired.

It was at this point that Robinho began to fall out of favour with City’s management. He was no longer required to have an impact on the field mainly because his attitude didn’t fit in with either Mark Hughes or Roberto Mancini’s method.

City no longer needed Robinho and the loan move to Santos only held up the forwards investable departure from Manchester, but as I suggested before I don’t think City will look back on Robinho’s signing as a failure.

He may have come with a huge price and an astronomical wages but he has helped to put City on the map. Without the signing of Robinho on that day back in 2008 you feel that City might have found it hard to attract the likes of Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor the following summer. From then on though Robinho had served his purpose and the fact that City managed to sell him for a reported £22milion is only a mere bonus.

But he has now set a worrying trend for the likes of Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz who look set to move on sooner rather than later. With City’s millions they will always be looking to better the squad. The worry for those players will be that if a top player becomes available, will Mancini or whoever is in charge at the time will opt to move players out once again.

Numerous reports have one-time wunderkind Robinho fleeing Manchester City for Santos, the legendary Sao Paolo club where his career began. The loan deal could see Santos youngsters Paulo Henrique Ganso or Neymar don sky blue. Manager Roberto Mancini has stated that, while concerned about a lack of depth at forward, he would not stand in Robinho’s way. While it is common for older players, such as Ronaldo the First and Roberto Carlos, to leave Europe’s elite leagues behind to return home at the end of their careers, such a move would be a tad strange for a player in his prime like Robinho.

Despite his chequered tenure at Eastlands, the September 1, 2008 Robinho signing signaled a massive turning point in Manchester City’s history as it showed the seriousness of new owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Many Premier League clubs have witnessed the arrival of supposed deep-pocketed foreign owner saviours, including Man City itself under Thaksin Shinawatra. The Robinho signing signaled Sheikh Mansour’s willingness to spend whatever it takes to bring Man City into the upper echelon.

The fact that Man City might well hardly miss Robinho is a sign of how far the club have come since last season. Robinho leaves with his football progress stunted, his reputation damaged and his spot at the World Cup unsecured.

His departure will again raise questions of the Premier League’s ability to absorb South Americans. The usual reasons mentioned in any discussion of this topic include the weather, the food, the language barrier, the culture shock, the more physical football style, the weather and the weather. The Guardian points out that every Brazilian who has won Fifa’s World Player of the Year has received the award while at only one of four clubs, Real, Barca, Inter and Milan. Still, assimilation is not a problem for the Premier League alone. Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, in Soccernomics (Why England Lose in the U.K.), spend a chapter discussing the general incompetency that most clubs display in absorbing foreign players. While the Premier League does not have an illustrious history of South American success stories (Asprilla anyone?), it remains a thoroughly international league, with more than 300 foreign players from more than 60 countries. Old notions die hard; Robinho’s exit says more about his own ability and maturity than it does about South Americans in the Premier League. One need look no further than Robinho’s soon-to-be-ex-teammate Carlos Tevez for proof positive that a world-class South American can thrive in England.

American fans take note, MLS club Red Bull New York is scheduled to play a Santos side that could well include Robinho in a March 20th exhibition match that will open their new ground in New Jersey.

It was the marquee signing that announced that Manchester City had money to burn and were determined to usurp the comfy old pals act at the top of the Premiership. Fans flocked to Eastlands in tea-towels to show their new Arabic allegiance and the shock that seemed to follow such a transfer.  £32.5 million had brought Robinho from Real Madrid to Manchester in a matter of hours and English football was in shock.

At first, the plaudits rained down on the little Brazilian as his pace and trickery dazzled the fans and replica kits bearing his name flew out of the club shop. Sheik Mansour had offered the highest profile player he could lay his hands on as that frenetic day came to a conclusion with City making bids all over Europe. The City fans were in raptures but every silver lining has a cloud.

For some reason, Robinho’s form began to tail off and soon it became evident that he simply didn’t perform away from Eastlands. Almost anonymous for most of the away games he appeared in, it took until April last year for the player to finally turn it on in an away game. Facing a tough trip to Goodison, he was effervescent throughout the game and showed true glimpses of his undoubted skill. 9 months later, a game at the same opponents has Robinho’s critics sharpening their knives.

I don’t think anyone can honestly understand how low a player feels when you join as a  substitute only to be then substituted. It sickens you to the stomach, unless injury has forced you off and that can still rankle as much. Similarly to being substituted at half time, the effect on the footballers psyche is deep and unremitting. To put it bluntly, it hurts like hell and everyone can see it. Pride and shame bubble up from deep inside you, you hope a giant hole will appear to swallow you up but it never arrives.

This event happening in a Sunday morning pub league is bad enough but in front of 37,728 fans and millions more watching around the world it’s almost catastrophic. The effect can be spirit crushing, especially for such a precocious and mentally delicate player as Robson De Souza clearly is. I appreciate that Mancini has to be strong and coming from Internazionale, he is used to dealing with the largest of ego’s but is Robinho egotistical or simply one of those players that constantly needs to be told how good he is? For me it’s the latter.

It’s difficult to explain why some players constantly need to be told how good they are, despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary. Everyone knows they’re good, so surely they must realise it also? It doesn’t work like that, inside your head, you don’t think like that, you don’t think you are that good, you don’t think you can do it every game. Think that’s infuriating for a fan? How do you think the player feels?

Away from home, opponents can figure out players like this, it’s easy. A bit of needle, a few choice words, a foot left in the tackle a little bit longer than it should be or a body check is all it takes to get the player questioning himself. At home, the fans can make you shake the cobwebs out of your head, clear your mind and get you focused back on your abilities and shut out the opposition and their fans baying for your blood.Away from home, it is a very different ball game. Robinho can be talked out of a match away from Eastlands.

Just because someone cost £32.5 million doesn’t make them immune to bouts of self doubt or a loss of confidence or form. Robinho is clearly a confidence player who needs an arm around the shoulder to keep him on side. Regardless of the image and the wages, it’s the battle inside your mind that makes you the player who you really are. Once Robinho can deal with his own self doubts and lack of confidence, then he will truly unlock all of his potential. Mancini needs to show patience and guide him, rather than chastise him.

So it’s official now, Manchester City’s owners have shown there true colours with yesterdays sacking of Mark Hughes and replacing him with Roberto Mancini. Rumours had been circling Hughes since Saturday morning, with several British papers stating that the game against Sunderland was to be his last. The board of Manchester City can no longer hide the delusion that powers the boardroom, a complete lack of the fundamental understanding of football and the team ethic.

Yes, they’ve spent massively over the last 18 months, but quite where this decision now sits with the empty promises over the summer that Mark Hughes was a long term investment is anyone’s guess. Here is a team that sits in 6th, with a game in hand, with a forthcoming League Cup semi-final next month against United to come. Apparently, this simply isn’t good enough.

Of course, only an idiot would think that you could create a title challenging side in 18months. Regardless of the investment or the monies spent, this is fantasy football based on the idea that if something costs a lot of money it must be good. Football doesn’t work like that. All the hoo haa about Robinho when he signed has been proved to be just that. He’s nowhere near as good as his marketing team tell us and it’s now apparent. Yet he cost £31 million and he’s Brazilian, so he must be brilliant it seems. All those people banging on about him being one of the best players in the world seem to be keeping their heads down these days.

City fans, some of footballs most hardy and loyal followers will be surprised by this but it’s not a situation they’re not accustomed to. During the tenure of Peter Swales, most fans needed an encyclopedia to keep up with the manager merry go round at Maine Road. It was no surprise that the side yo-yoed between the top two divisions for nearly two decades, with a season in the third tier for good measure. Of course, that situation will surely not repeat itself, but the boardroom now resembles that of a tantrum throwing teenager.

The statement issued by Manchester City yesterday speaks volumes about the little understanding of football they have.  “A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed and set, Sheikh Mansour and the board felt that there was no evidence that the situation would fundamentally change.”

I feel for Hughes, I don’t feel he’s been given enough time for the side to gel. Don’t let the outlay cloud the truth of what has gone on here. In fact, you have to question who was choosing their transfer targets. With the exception of Bellamy and Given, most of the big outlay players simply haven’t delivered consistently. No-one is questioning Wengers decision to sell Toure and Adebayor anymore are they? To create a side takes time, patience and knowledge.

Yet, the decision to install Mancini shows two things: The decision to install Hughes had already been taken and Mancini tapped up to replace him and by appointing Mancini, a complete lack of the understanding of football. The owners of Manchester City want to be the best side in the world, but they appoint someone who hasn’t managed since being sacked by Inter Milan in April 2008. Why no offer for Hiddink? Frank Rijkaard? even Jose Mourinho?

Mancini was sacked after his continual failure to trouble the further rounds of the Champions League but his tenure at Inter is rose tinted. With the exception of Roma, all of Inters major rivals were embroiled in the match fixing scandal of 2006. So Mancini’s first title was given to them after Juventus were stripped of it. The second title was won when all their rivals were deducted points, or in Juventus’ situation, relegated to Serie B and Roma couldn’t capitalise. They were also able to strip players from the other teams who were punished, so how great a manager was he really?

Mancini was sacked before the third title was assured. Yet Sheikh Mansour thinks he’s the man to make them a great side? Fantastic decision making there Sheikh Mansour, I don’t think Chelsea will be losing any sleep. Yet another Fantasy Football decision based of a complete lack of knowledge of the game. Manchester City fans deserve respect, not this ridiculous attempt to sign every person you’ve heard of. It was a dreadful decision to sack Hughes, but an even worse one to replace him with Mancini.

If I was an Arsenal fan, I’d be fed up already listening to people saying that Manchester City were obviously going to usurp them as one of the “Big Four” sides. It’s amazing what spending money does to peoples judgement when it comes to football and Manchester City have certainly caught more than their fair share of attention over the summer. To all intents and purposes, Manchester City will easily outstrip Arsenal on the pitch and leapfrog them in the Premiership.

So since last summer City have spent over £160 million pounds, but have they really bought the required players to turn them into a major force in the Premiership. In my honest opinion, no they haven’t. It’s easy to simply look at the figures they’ve spent and it all becomes an addiction to money rather than talent. For some, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have suddenly lost the managerial skills they’ve earned over one summer due to players going to Manchester City.

How has Ferguson lost his abilities by not signing Carlos Tevez? Whilst the vocal United fans tried to convince Ferguson to sign him up, Ferguson would not be budged. He was quite right to question how a striker who only scored 5 goals in the Premiership was worth £25 million. He consistently failed to deliver in big games time and again, yet because he ran around like a dog chasing a rabbit, he was “world class”. It is such an over rated term, that is consistently trotted out all the time as to make it almost redundant. Would you honestly say he’s a better striker than Wayne Rooney? Really? Even the most blinkered City fan can surely see the stupidity of that comparison.

Not one of Manchester City’s new signings is World Class, that’s a fact. Not one of them. Honestly, seriously, none of them. With the exception of Gareth Barry, Shay Given and Wayne Bridge, there isn’t one player who would be at Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea. Adebayor, Toure and Tevez have all been let go because they aren’t good enough for a top 4 side. City had clean run at every one of the targets they’ve signed because the clubs that owned the players were happy to see them leave, Barry and Given apart.

Craig Bellamy, over rated, over paid and has never, ever delivered consistently. A temper that causes more problems than he’s worth, I witnessed one of his strops at Norwich. Refused a decision by the referee, little Craig stomped his feet and jumped up and down on the spot for almost a minute. Pathetic. I wonder how long it will be before he starts texting his team mates spiteful messages?

Roque Santa Cruz, so good that when he left Bayern Munich, he joined Blackburn, no offence Rovers fans. If every major club in Europe wasn’t interested, how has he become such a brilliant striker after one good season and then moping around for a year hoping for a move. In 8 years at Bayern, he scored 38 goals playing for one of the biggest sides in Europe and one that consistently challenged for trophies at home and in Europe. That’s a dreadful record for someone allegedly so good.

Robinho  joined Manchester City, then forgot who he’d signed for. Chelsea to be fair, wouldn’t pay over £27.5 million for him and by Christmas, they were probably glad they hadn’t. Another one touted as “world class”, laughably so if you’ve watched him regularly at Real Madrid. A good player, almost really good, but wildly inconsistent, prone to having hissy fits and a strike rate that doesn’t match the amount of chances he gets.

As for the two signings from Arsenal, Toure and Adebayor, Wenger must be laughing all the way the bank with his £40 million transfer kitty. He has, thanks to Manchester City, made a fortune from Arsenal’s two biggest troublemakers who were simply not at the races last season. If anything, Arsenal are stronger without spending a penny. The issues that those two caused in the dressing room and on the training ground had caused fractures through out  Wengers squad in the last two seasons. Arsenal are better without those two at the Emirates, no question.

Adebayor famously attacked a team mate during a match because he didn’t pass to him, Toure got his gang to ignore William Gallas because he couldn’t be captain. Once again, childish, immature and bringing tons of baggage with them.Good riddance, I don’t know one Arsenal fan who is sad to see them leave. Not one. That tells you everything you need to know about those two.

This rag tag bunch of egotistical, money driven mercenaries are now all nicely tied up on 4 and 5 year contracts, earning more money than they ever believed they possibly could. Do you really think they’ve come to win trophies or count their cash? All this talk of “ being excited by the project” makes me laugh, it’s jibberish. It’s all about the money, nothing more, nothing less.  Now somehow this team will be bonded and formed into one the best teams in England within weeks? It’s crazy to expect such results so soon.

How long before the cracks appear at Eastlands and the dressing room becomes a pit of ego clashes and cliques. If they’re not in the top 7 come Christmas, the pressure will be really on Mark Hughes. Rome was not built in a day and Manchester City could end up being more like Sodom and Gomorrah than the Eternal City next season. They will have all to do to keep up with Everton, Tottenham, Villa and Fulham, never mind crack the top 4 and worry Arsenal.

Say what you will about the obscene amount of money being spent by Manchester City this summer, but you have to admit that there’s a certain perverse pleasure in watching someone build a real-life club lineup in much the same way that most regular joes would create their starting XI in a video game.

Okay, let’s take West Brom out and put Sealand FC into the Premier League. I’ll build a giant floating stadium in the North Sea for them. Awesome. Let’s drop Kaká in the middle here, and David Villa up front with Jozy Altidore… ooh, gotta bump his numbers up a bit… Cool. Hey, let’s make a Kevin Garnett character and put him in goal. He seems like he could have been good at that…

Man City manager Mark Hughes hasn’t gone quite that crazy, of course, but at first glance, he appears to be making the same mistake most novice video gamers might make when building a team: loading up on strikers. At some point, a gamer realizes that Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Kun Aguero and an injury-free Michael Owen — who seems to exist only in computers and preseasons — can’t all play together at once. Someone has to win the ball and control it in the midfield.

Of course, Hughes hasn’t forgotten this. That’s why he spent £17M on Nigel de Jong in January and another £12M on Gareth Barry this summer. Still, Manchester City has thrown a whopping £129M at forwards since being taken over by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan last August, and the projected front line of Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez alone cost more than £82M.

Throw Stephen Ireland in with Barry, de Jong and that forward trio, however, and Hughes’ plan begins to come into focus. Man City is attempting to emulate FC Barcelona.

And why not? Barcelona used their 4-1-2-3 formation to shatter opponents and win a convincing triple last year, so it’s practically destined to become imitated widely. It’s entirely possible that Sheikh Mansour, like the rest of us, watched Barca break down Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League Final and asked Hughes to build a side exactly like that. He’s also put Hughes in the unique position to do that with just about any players he wants.

The parallels are obvious. Adebayor is the big striker in the middle, a la Samuel Eto’o, while Robinho and Tevez are set wide like Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi. Barry and Ireland are there to control the midfield like Xavi and Iniesta and feed the forwards, while de Jong sits back and provides cover like Yaya Toure. Sort out the central defense, and Sparky could find himself managing a contender.

Plenty of questions remain, though. For starters, can Hughes rotate his strikers enough to keep everyone happy? Craig Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz, Benjani, Valeri Bojinov, Felipe Caicedo and Ched Evans are all fighting for spots, too, and some of them won’t be satisfied playing just cup ties. Does Elano see any playing time in this midfield, which would suit his skills well, or is safe to assume he’ll be gone come August? And what happens to pure wingers like Shaun Wright-Phillips and Martin Petrov? Do they become square pegs in this triangular front six?

Ah, but that’s the fun thing about building a video game roster. When you’ve got the right players, you can experiment with just about any formation you want. Perhaps Hughes can revert back to the familiar 4-4-2 when the situation calls for it. It would be far more interesting, though, to see if that Barca-style 4-1-2-3 could succeed at Eastlands over a full season. In fact, I might just recreate that lineup myself in Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 this weekend and see how well it works.

Well, two days are left until the transfer window opens again and Manchester City look like they’ve signed two strikers to help Mark Hughes drag them up the table. I suppose they need some good news down at Eastlands after the ground flooded on Saturday due to flash floods.  With both signings, City could have an incredible 12 strikers on their books at the last count, but that number will fall by one on July 1st as young prospect Daniel Sturridge has agreed to join Chelsea.

With the roster of talent up front that Hughes has now, it’s safe to say that City will be looking to probably offload at least another 4 strikers apart from Sturridge. Vassell and Benjani, Ched Evans and the unloved Jo would be favourites to be heading for the door and all 4 will easily find new clubs before the season starts.  Bojinov may get another chance to show his potential, after a couple of injury ravaged seasons at Eastlands, Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz will still be settling in.

Of the others, Robinho will surely stay regardless of the rumours of Barcelona weighing up a bid for him and Caicedo may be off after comments in the press last week stating he’d had contact from 4 or 5 clubs looking to take him next season. Even footballers can work out that 12 strikers into 3 positions does not work out too well if you aren’t called Robinho, Santa Cruz, Eto’o, Tevez or Bellamy.

The signing of Carlos Tevez is no surprise as it’s been mooted since he announced that he was leaving Manchester United last week and throwing his dummy out of the pram as he went. The potential signing of Samuel Eto’o is a different level for me, easily one of the most consistent strikers in world football today, two footed, great in the air, pacey and a thunderous shot on him. He is one of the best strikers in the world to put it simply. I’m surprised but not shocked by Barcelona accepting a bid for him; he’s 28 and only has one year left on his contract at the Camp Nou. £28 million pounds is a lot for a guy with only 12 months left on his contract, but City need to show real ambition and the Eto’o signing is key to that ambition becoming reality.

Eto’o's signing could be the beginning for Hughes’ side and satisfying the long term aims of the Abu Dhabi Group. By now signing a genuine world class player for Manchester City, it’s a major development. Before anyone goes on about Robinho and Carlos Tevez being world class, no they’re not. They’re both damn good players, but the best players in their positions? Not a chance. Eto’o is certainly a name that would easily be mentioned when discussing the best striker in the world and if he decides to come then City have a top quality player.

The other aspect to this signing is the fact that other players will sit up and take notice that Eto’o has agreed to join Manchester City. It’s a major signing by any stretch of the imagination and will send a message out to other players out there. Now all Mark Hughes has to do is get this squad of players working as a team.

It wasn’t so long ago, I was completely outraged by Chelsea FC’s spending. 16.6m for Mekelele. 24.4m for Essien. 19.8m for Carvalho. 24m for Drogba. As a business, the club could sustain a 140m loss on a year because Roman Abramovich was there to bankroll the transfers. This was bad for football. The value of players skyrocketed. The old high water marks were obliterated. Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinze Rummenigge lamented the damage Chelsea spending was doing to European football. Wrecking the balance. Hogging the resources.

Now, with Manchester City as the new fat cat in town, I almost can’t remember why I was so mad at Abramovich.

Last winter rumors of Kaka coming to City abounded. The press figured City’s transfer offer to be as high as 130m. Thankfully it was turned down and Kaka stayed at Madrid Milan, but the fact City were willing to splash that much out on one player is scary.

City have already set a new British record when they spent 32.5m to buy Robinho from Real Madrid last summer. And they were reportedly talking about shelling out 60m to secure David Villa’s services from Valencia last winter. Villa made it clear then he wanted to stay. Now that Valencia is in serious financial trouble, one wonders if an expensive move may be made after all.

With all the money City are willing to spend it is almost refreshing to see them only pay 12m for Gareth Barry (the remainder of his contract was estimated at about 10m when I last wrote about him potentially leaving Aston Villa), but of course the fact they can offer him a meaty salary factors heavily into his move.

As when City coaxed West Ham’s prolific Craig Bellamy away for 14m, the promise of City’s future has its lure for players like Barry.

City are not looking to merely follow the Abramovich model. They are looking to crumple it up into a ball and leave it behind them in the dust, while the rest of us wonder… what were we so mad about c. 2006?

Abramovich’s past transfer coups are dwarfed by the prospects of 130m for Kaka and 60m for Villa. At some point City will make good on such offers. At some point a club is going to succumb to the lure of big money and sell the top class player for the outrageous sum and the glass ceiling (already raised so high by Chelsea) will come a’ tumblin’ down.

With the Abu Dhabi United Group behind City and with Abramovich’s wealth hurt by the global economic crunch, the Russian oligarch is slipping from his status as wealthy arch-villain into a role of, well, normal owner. He is not expected to spend anything near the amounts he dropped on the market in his first years at the helm. As Chelsea’s stars age, they seem like a club again. Not a superclub.

But the Chelsea spending model was largely a means to launch the club as a global brand. This has worked. Even if Abramovich curtails his upside-down business model and allows Chelsea to climb back into the positive in the books without his cash injections, the club is in a position to thrive and remain a force in domestic and continental football do to the exposure of the talent they brought in and the trophies they won since Abramovich took over.

This is now City’s aim. Using big name players and the potential marketing power of having the name “Manchester” at their disposal, City can make their way into a higher level of global recognition.

With no spending ceilings in place, there’s no need for pragmatism for business or concern for the damage the outrageous transfer fees can do to the sport.

The scary question is: what other investors will follow this absurd model? What other clubs will raise the bar beyond belief? And how high will the bids go?

In five years 32.5 for Robinho may not seem so crazy when the figure has been eclipsed by the next Chelsea FC or the next Manchester City. I cringe at the prospect.

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.

It would be a sane Premier League week if there wasn’t an outlandish Manchester City rumor, but where is the fun in that?

This week’s circulation is a doozy.  Manchester City reportedly are including Robinho in a cash plus player offer for Chelsea captain John Terry this summer.  City would entice Terry by doubling his £135,000 per week salary.  He would be a part of the £200m summer spree to acquire everyone the Abu Dhabi owners fancy.

As farcical as this deal sounds, it would make sense.

Manchester City need to get rid of Robinho.  He kisses badges and plays to crowds but he obviously considers himself better than the club.  He disrespects City with grand gestures, such as his birthday jaunt to Brazil.  He disrespects them on an everyday basis through things as small as the dress code.

Despite the purported Hiddink magic, Chelsea need to revamp the squad.  With Abramovich’s money clip clamped, they need to raise funds from sales.  For all of Terry’s sentimental attachment, he’s aging and expandable, far less crucial to the defense than Carvalho.  If Chelsea can get an elite talent, such as Robinho, and cash, (or even straight cash) they must consider this deal.

Even just getting Terry’s contract off the books would be bottom-line beneficial.

It’s sensible for City to dump Robinho and Chelsea to sell Terry.  It’s also prudent to deal with each other, because they are the only available markets for the two players.

City would want close to the outrageous £32.5m they paid for the fancy dan.  That rules out nearly every club besides, Chelsea and Real Madrid.  Madrid obviously don’t want him back.  Chelsea fought earnestly for him in September.  He would be the perfect support striker with either Drogba or Anelka that Chelsea has missed.

Manchester City are also the only destination for Terry.  He’s overvalued in England, preventing any European club from coming in for him.  Liverpool and Arsenal have neither the need for his defending nor the money.  Manchester United have two far superior players in Vidic and Ferdinand.  City could use his defending, as well as his leadership ability.  They also have the money.

Terry may claim to be loyal to Chelsea, but the opportunity to be by far the highest paid player in football only comes once, particularly for an aging, above-average English defender.

This deal likely will be too crazy to occur.  Chelsea may deem Terry vital to future interests.  Terry may decide to stay in London.  City may even come to their senses, to go after someone with less star-power and more skill.

However, if this transfer does turn up, both clubs should not hesitate.