Rich in history, rich in fortunes

How fortunes have changed for Manchester City, now considered the richest club in the world. Today, under the ownership of members of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, dreams are becoming a reality. Manager Mark Hughes is slowly building a squad with the aim of bringing in silverware for the first time in more than three decades. Seldom a day goes past without Manchester City hitting the headlines, either being linked to a new star purchase or snapping up players like Roque Santa Cruz or Robinho.

Manchester City intends going places and has the money to make ambitions come true. It’s all a very far cry from humble beginnings in the 19th century when a former player put in his own cash to stop the club from going bust and postponing his wedding for three years as a result! Like many of our modern day clubs, Manchester City can trace its roots back to church days and cricket. The club used to be called St Mark’s West Gorton, a district in east Manchester, and was formed by three stalwarts, including two church wardens. The team evolved from an avid group of cricketers and the first known competitive football match was played in November of 1880. The youngest player was 15, the oldest 20.

St Mark’s became Ardwick AFC in 1887 and then Manchester City FC in 1894 in a bid to create a club which represented the whole of Manchester. Manchester City have won the League Championship twice, the FA Cup four times, the League Cup twice and the European Cup Winners’ Cup once. It has had periods of success and times of failure and notched up many a record, some of them held with pride, the others not so.

The club’s most successful period was in the late 1960s and early 1970s when it won several major trophies under Joe Mercer and his assistant Malcolm Allison but there have been no glittering honours for 33 years. Under the new ownership, the intention is for all that to change and the future is looking bright. Manchester City have spent most of their history in the top flight but, in the 1990s, had to endure relegation twice in three years and also spent a year in the third tier. Today, failure is not considered an option.

There are fans throughout the UK – the latest statistics suggest some 886,000 – and in excess of two million throughout the world. That’s a large fan base considering the lack of competitive success. Manchester City first won the FA Cup in 1904 but was later dogged by financial irregularities which, in 1906, culminated in the suspension of 17 players. In 1920, fire destroyed the Hyde Road main stand and the club moved to Maine Road in 1923.

The highlight of the 1930s was two consecutive FA Cup finals, one lost to Everton in 1933 and then a victory against Portsmouth in 1934. City won the First Division title for the first time in 1937 but could not avoid relegation the next season. The club was to reach the FA Cup finals again in 1955 and 1956, repeating the pattern of before – losing the first, winning the second. The 1956 final against Birmingham was a memorable affair, not least because City goalie Bert Trautmann continued to play, oblivious of the fact that he had a broken neck. In 1963, City were relegated to the Second Division but fortunes began to turn in 1965 with the appointment of Mercer and Allinson. In their first season, they won the league title, promotion, then the League Cup in 1967-68, the FA Cup in 1969 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970, as well as the League Cup.

Manchester City became only the second European team to win a European trophy and a domestic trophy in one season but notched up another record too. They were the only club to have won the European Cup Winners’ Cup and to be relegated to the Third Division. The club was relegated in 1983 and 1987, bouncing back each time, and then became founder members of the Premier League in 1992. However, they were relegated again in 1996 and then to the Third Division two seasons later.

More upheavals were to follow, with promotions and relegations until the Kevin Keegan era when they became Division One champions in 2001-2002, breaking the record for the number of points gained and goals scored in one season. The season of 2002-2003 proved the last at Maine Road with the move to the City of Manchester Stadium. Stuart Pearce took over in 2005 but there was a disappointing 15th place finish in 2005-2006 and another record – just ten home goals, the fewest ever scored by a club.

Many a top manager has been at the helm, including Sven-Goran Erikssohn in July 2007. His reign started well but he was sacked in June 2008 amid a public outcry from the fans. Nothing could save him and Mark Hughes became manager in June 2008. The last season saw the club finishing tenth in the Premiership and reaching the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup. On the way, another record was notched up with the signing of Real Madrid star Robinho for a then British record-breaking fee of 32.5 million pounds. It was seen as a massive coup and just one of many to come.

Playing in sky blue and white, Manchester City has the most loyal of fans and was once voted in third in a loyalty poll to Liverpool and Portsmouth. It’s reported that the buy-out by the Abu Dhabi United Group was worth around 200 million pounds, money which could help to build a team Manchester City has always aspired to be. Manchester, and the rest of the world, awaits action and success on the field with huge anticipation as would their ancestors of over a century ago.

Huge costs up at City so far.

Manchester City have added almost £160 million in bills since Mark Hughes has been working under the financial backing of new owners. It is a staggering amount when you consider that the only real high profile star that City have drafted in is Robinho.

The wage bill has almost doubled and the news may very well come as a shock to many as it proves just how easily a massive football club can spend cash if there are not strict regulations in place to stem the amount of expenditure.

This figure will rockets City are bound to make a number of summer signings and have already added Gareth Barry to the squad for a £12 million fee. No player at the club in the first team earns less than £44,000 per week, which may seem small in comparison to other clubs, but when bigger signings are likely to arrive, the number of contract upgrades that will be demanded is slightly worrying.

However, City insist that they are a well run business like club that likes to boast value for money on all fronts. Chief Executive, Gary Cook said: “The story is completely without foundation. Robinho has always been a highly valued member of our team and that continues to be the case. Reports suggesting that he will leave the football club, either on loan or on a permanent deal, are absolutely untrue.”

Robinho himself earns ten per cent of the entire City wage bill each year and many pundits criticised him for joining City because they saw it as a purely financially motivated move. They believe that now City have proven to not be as good as the Brazilian would have hoped, that he is trying to jump ship in order to save his own career and maintain his international chances of becoming a Brazilian legend.

The point is that City’s figures are already quite high, especially for a club that is not in the top six. How much they are likely to increase again depends a lot on the manager and the freedom that the chairman and owners will give him to make better signings. However, it will increase to heights that the club would have never thought were possible.

The job for City is trying to make sure that the club can still offer value for money to its players and its fans. The only reason Robinho is on such high wages is because it was probably the only thing that would have got him to switch to City from a move to Chelsea. So long as the club is run efficiently, there is no reason why the finances of the side and everything else to do with the club cannot be managed in a productive way.

They also need to echo the chairman’s comments from earlier in the week and make sure that they are not taken advantage of as a club. If they allow this to happen then it is likely that the number of subclauses in player contracts will see wages and bonuses rocketing to epic proportions, which could be the downfall of the club.

Ronaldo offered the highest wages of all time.

New Real Madrid signing, Cristiano Ronaldo, has been offered the highest wages in history for any single player. Ronaldo is set to earn roughly £106 million over a six year period with wages of over half a million pounds per week at the peak of the deal.

He actually starts on the staggering sum of £183,000 per week, which easily surpasses the £160,000 that Robinho is currently on at Manchester City. The news simply acts as further proof that Real Madrid are looking to invest their way back to the top.

No doubt the news will anger thousands owing to the fact that Ronaldo will be earning £50 minute and over £3,000 per hour. These are stupid sums of money and will not win the Portuguese star any admirers. It would be difficult to find any other club in the world that would be willing to pour so much money into one player. It also creates a huge pressure and risk and maybe actually does justify the calls from some Manchester United fans that he is not worth that level of investment.

It is difficult when you listen to Ronaldo talking about Madrid to understand how he feels it is a better proposition than playing at Manchester United, the club where he made his name and the club where he has had all of his success. It is very easy for people that do not admire him too much to say that he has simply moved to Spain in order to increase his already substantial wealth and fortune.

If the latter is the case then football is declining as a game and it just goes to show that even the best players can be swayed from venture to venture via the nature of their bank balance. However, none of us would blame him. If anyone else were offered such huge sums of money to go and play football in an appealing part of the world it would take a dishonest man to say he wouldn’t be interested.

The whole affair puts to the back of the line the criticism that David Beckham received when he joined LA Galaxy for roughly half of what Ronaldo will be earning. The news of the wages should also act as an incentive UEFA and FIFA to work quickly in proposing a type of budget system in football that would mute these massive financial influences. What Ronaldo will earn in a week could buy a brand new squad for a League One or League Two side in this country.

The mind boggles at how Madrid can keep this financial push going as they seem to have more money at the moment than sense or the government of a small country. Kaka will be on a good deal, as will David Villa if he completes his move from Valencia. Madrid should be very wary, these amounts of money could make an ego that is already quite large, one of epic proportions and there could come a case where Ronaldo feels he is the main man at the club and the person who should run the show.

Manchester City boss is expecting a busy summer.

Manchester City manager, Mark Hughes, is expecting a lot of transfer activity this summer as the big clubs have already started to flex their financial muscles. Real Madrid have already spent just under £140 million on two players and City themselves spend over £10 million on Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry.

Chelsea are also reported to be lining up a couple of big deals with Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o the top of Carlo Ancelotti’s shopping list over the next three months. Hughes for one sees all the activity as healthy competition and thinks it will all make for an interesting transfer market.

He said: “There is a lot of money out there now, with some big clubs eager to spend it. It should make for an interesting market.”

City themselves have by far and away the biggest financial purse in the game but the problem for Hughes is that he may not be able to attract the high calibre players that he wants to. When there are other clubs with a lot of cash publicly looking for players then it will mean that agents are not able to direct traffic in City’s direction.

For example Manchester United will obviously be looking to make good the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and if City approach the same players as their city counterparts then they will be more likely to miss out. Fair enough they did manage to poach Aston Villa’s best player from underneath the nose of Liverpool but this is unlikely to happen again during the transfer window.

It is probably more exciting for the fans that get to watch all of the drama at clubs unfolding. The fact that players can be traded so easily makes for interesting topics on rumours and speculation. It is even better if your club is involved and going for one of the best players in the country or in Europe.

However, there is a point that all of the money is bad for the game and there is good reason for people that hold this view to speak up in this particular area. The amount of cash that Real Madrid can spend on two people will quite frankly sicken certain people. Especially so when you consider the economic climate we are currently in and the growing number of health concerns across the world.

A big summer spending spree across a range of clubs could prompt FIFA into some sort of action whereby they impose a budget cap next season. This would stop so much money floating around and would enable smaller clubs to make good on the gap, which is currently developing between the top and everyone else.

So there are good and bad sides to big summer spending. Hughes is clearly of the camp that likes it, which is fair enough when he has the money to spend himself. However, there is a clear case for those that despise it, this group of people may eventually get their way and the £80 million fee for one player could remain as the world record for a very long time.

Robinho ruffles Manchester City feathers.

Manchester City star, Robinho, has ruffled a few feathers by hinting at his dream transfer to Spanish champions, Barcelona. The commitment of the Brazilian has constantly been in question ever since he joined City last summer in a massive financial deal.

This led to calls from all sections of the game that Robinho had only joined City as a stepping stone between big clubs as they were willing to offer him more money than he had ever had to sign a big contract. The same day that he joined City he created controversy by saying he was happy to be joining Chelsea in the middle of an interview.

This news is likely to annoy many City fans and even manager, Mark Hughes, who was hoping that the services of the player would be enough to attract more high calibre stars to the club. If they let him leave then it could be a lot harder for City to attract players of a similar calibre and it could be a long time before the stars start walking through the gates at Eastlands.

Robinho said: “So far, there have only been speculations. There is nothing concrete and I haven't received any offers. The only thing I can say is that Barcelona are a great team and everybody would love to play for them.”

Many football fans will scratch their head at Robinho’s career as he possesses everything necessary to turn himself into one of the greatest players to have ever played the game. His temperament and nature prevented him from making a big impression at Real Madrid, which ultimately led to his sale last year.

Ever since he moved to City a lot of people have been saying that he does not look like he truly wants to be wearing the Manchester City colours and despite a fairly good first season in English football a lot of fans have come to question his desire and attitude.

The next move for City is quite simple, make sure the player is happy where he is and do everything possible to make sure he stays at the club. The big financial backers that have just taken over the club clearly have big ambitions but these cannot be fulfilled unless the best players stay at City.

With a lot of speculation already floating around City’s best defender, Richard Dunne, then it is vitally important that they quash the rumours surrounding their best attacking force. Mark Hughes is a smart enough manager to know how to handle the situation and Robinho would be well advised to keep his head down for a while as the sags unfolds.

If and only if Barca eventually do make bid for him can colour start being put on the picture, however the fact is that you would question why they would want him when they clearly have the best side in Europe. There are other areas of the Barcelona squad that could do with a lot more work as the attacking flair they already have is more than adequate.

Franck Ribery looks set to get a transfer from Bayern Munich

With each day that passes the future of gifted Bayern Munich star, Franck Ribery, looks more and more set in stone. For a long time reports from all over Europe have been popping out with rumours of reported bids and planned coups to take the Frenchman into the squad of another massive club.

Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Lyon and Real Madrid among others have all said to be interested in his services and fresher strong rumours have emerged this morning that he will move to Italy when the transfer window opens this summer.

Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan is said to be intensely frustrated at his side’s failure to make vast steps in Europe this season and Ribery has been targeted to secure UEFA Champions League success for next year.

Inter are supposedly ready to offer 40 million Euros plus a possible player exchange in order to make the move a reality, but Ribery’s future is still greatly unclear. A number of other clubs would be willing to match or even better this price.

Ribery has consistently said in Germany that he is satisfied and happy to be playing in Munich. He has been instrumental in the progress they have made this season and despite a European thrashing at the hands of Barcelona, Munich have been noted as a rapidly developing side.

He has made just fewer than 30 appearances for Munich this season scoring 11goals and not to mention has become one of the first names to go down on the French international team list every time a France game comes around. Many England fans will remember he scored in their victory over the English in Fabio Capello’s second game in charge.

If Ribery moves to Inter this summer then he would look set to form an attacking partnership with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and possibly Diego Milito as well who has also been linked with the Italian outfit. Inter are a side packed with no end of talent and experience but they are missing a piece in the jigsaw.

It is unlikely that Munich will let him leave with out a fight. For any club who are faced with the prospect of having to sell one of their best players the option is quite simple; if you are going to let him go then you sell him to the highest bidder.

Real Madrid have cash in the bank as their Ronaldo quest seems to have stopped so the fire power that could come from elsewhere, besides Inter, could be enough to sway the German club to listen to other offers. Especially considering Madrid’s European fragility this year.

Munich would do very well to Get Ribery signed on for even longer than his current contract runs for. They have regular European football guaranteed and Ribery has settled in the country. Munich have a strong case for persuading him to stay but it is likely that the glitz and glamour of moving to a bigger European club may be too hard to say no to.