At the start of the campaign, the dreary forecast was that the ‘Big Four’ would be streets ahead of the rest, as per usual. Indeed, the loveable Peter Kenyon spoke earlier this summer about the need for other clubs to pull their socks up and start competing with the big guns at the top of the Premier League table. Now he appears to have been granted his wish!
Manchester City are moneybags central as a result of the Abu Dhabi United Group coming on to the scene, although they’ll have to wait until January to further strengthen the current squad. Nevertheless, signing Robinho from Real Madrid was a very obvious statement of intent, and the Brazilian is clearly excited about what can be achieved at Eastlands. The BBC reports that the sky’s the limit.
I want to help the manager and the team to win the Premier League, that’s my ambition,” he told the club website.
“I knew that City are a very big club, there’s a great team there and this is an exciting project.”
After an injection of funds from new investors Abu Dhabi United Group, City managed to outmanoeuvre Chelsea to bring the Brazilian to Eastlands.
Robinho had seemed certain to move to Stamford Bridge, telling a press conference on Sunday that “I am only thinking of Chelsea” as he attempted to engineer a move away from Madrid.
But he said the chance to team up with his international team-mates Jo and Elano at City was a key factor in his decision to join Mark Hughes’ side.
“They are my friends,” Robinho explained.
“Having such great players at City was one of the reasons why I decided to come here.”
Strange how Robinho hadn’t mentioned his ‘friends’ when the offer from Chelsea was on the table! All of a sudden, his move to Eastlands seems like the most natural thing in the world. Can City really win the league in the next few seasons, or does it take more than a large pot of cash to be top dogs?