Roman's facing a transfer of power

They may be words that now come back to haunt the chief executive who, for once, did not get his own way.

The Spanish club issued a statement at the weekend condemning Chelsea's behaviour over the way they had tried to secure the transfer - and for selling Robinho shirts in the club shop before he had signed.

In truth, Real had been negotiating with the Blues for weeks and were just trying to find a way to save face and push the price up. However, City's unexpected move gave Madrid the perfect opportunity to receive an even larger amount of money, with the added benefit of not seeing a player move to a direct rival in the Champions League.

Chelsea were around £3m short of meeting Madrid's initial valuation and refused to go any higher, yet that didn't scare City and this may just be the start of things to come as far as they are concerned. The Abu Dhabi United Group have links to the royal family, who have wealth totalling in excess of £26 billion in a state that produces 10 per cent of the world's oil.

Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, who heads the consortium, has outlined their ambitions to make City champions by 2010 and emulating what Abramovich has achieved at Stamford Bridge.

He said: "We are looking to make the same kind of impact at Manchester City that has happened at Chelsea in recent years. That is what we want and we think it is achievable.

"The Premier League is a huge attraction for us. We looked at the likes of Arsenal and Newcastle United but we are very excited about becoming the new owners of Manchester City and have great ambitions for the club.

"The target is to finish in the top four this season and then challenge for the Premier League title next year. We know that will require serious investment, but the bids we have already made for several players demonstrate how serious we are. We want to turn City into one of the biggest football clubs there is."

Manager Mark Hughes added: "I came to the club on the premise that I would be given resources to compete and to win trophies. Obviously with Thaksin [ Shinawatra] and the situation he was in he wasn't able to do that, but he's brought people to the table that will enable me to challenge in the Premier League and do well in Europe.

"All the promises to me have been fulfilled and now it's up to me."

City will need a few more transfer windows to seriously take on the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United at the top of the division, but Robinho's arrival could provide a domino affect as far as new signings go in the future, especially as they have given the winger £94,000 a week after tax to join them. The ability to offer that kind of salary will even raise the eyebrows of many players at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea still remain confident that they have a squad capable of winning the Premier and Champions League this season.

The sight of Didier Drogba coming through 58 minutes of a reserve game against Arsenal last night was a much needed boost and he is on course to play against, ironically, City a week on Saturday.

Blues manager Luiz Felipe Scolari insisted he only wanted to work with 23-24 players when he arrived and six have gone this summer, while only Deco and Jose Bosingwa have arrived. But Chelsea's two title triumphs in 2005 and 2006 were built on the back of having the strongest squad in the country and the failure to get Robinho has put that into doubt.

The way the team struggled to break down a resilient Tottenham in the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday provoked concerns among supporters over a lack of skill and pace out wide in particular. If it was not bad enough seeing City suddenly arrive as a major competitor in the transfer market, Chelsea also saw their big title rivals at United succeed in signing their main target in Dimitar Berbatov. Once Cristiano Ronaldo returns to fitness, manager Sir Alex Ferguson will be able to field a frightening quartet which also includes Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Berbatov, if he wishes.

But even United will be raising half an eyebrow in the direction of their near neighbours this morning - could 33 trophyless years in the blue half of Manchester be finally coming to an end?