I may not care about British football, but wow, what a coup. In the last few years the West has thrown bundles of cash to the Middle East and Russia as the price of gas has increased and now the oil-rich regions will be looking to diversify their money in various world markets.
In August I passed through Monaco briefly (which I dislike) and could not believe how present the Russians were this year. Even on my last visit, the town was still a Ferrari kind of town but now it's all Rolls Royce and Bentleys with Russian plates, courtesy of petro-dollars. One Russian billionaire just purchased the most expensive house ever next to Monaco. Different times we're living in right now and let's just say the Americans aren't at the top of the bling bling list any more.
The tiny Gulf state of Abu Dhabi launched an audacious raid on one of Britain's top football clubs yesterday in a move that will transform the shape of global football.
The £210m takeover of Manchester City threatens to dethrone their closest rivals Manchester United and establish City as the biggest team in the world. The club announced that it had signed a memo of understanding with the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), a holding company set up by Middle East investors, backed by the country's royal family. The new regime's first move was an attempt to gazump United's £30m signing of Tottenham Hotspur's star striker Dimitar Berbatov with an offer of £34m. And they quickly followed that by lodging bids for Spain's highly rated forward David Villa and Stuttgart's Mario Gomez.
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