Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Amos 
Date:Saturday September 6 2008
Time: 1:39PM
UK time is: 20:47:27
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Citeh doesn't make sense for Cesc
Responding to claims by Manchester City`s new front man Sulaiman al-Fahim that he has targeted pass master Fabregas, amongst other prominent world stars in a big spending revolution, Cesc has announced he has no interest in such a move.
He told the Barcelona based daily newspaper Sport: 'It would be suicidal for my career at my 21 years of age to move to City. It would make no sense.'
The new owners of Manchester City, Abu Dhabi United Group, is in turn owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, half brother of Abu Dhabi's ruler. The family fortune is conservatively estimated at £425bn.
The Guardian reports that there is some discontent amongst the UAE Sheikhs in what they see as grandstanding by those representing the club following the takeover:
Senior courtiers have acknowledged that publicity surrounding the purchase of Manchester City has created the impression in Britain that the emirate is playing a grotesque game of fantasy football.There is a feeling that Sulaiman al-Fahim, the ADUG bid spokesman who proposed to offer £134m for Manchester United's Christiano Ronaldo and bragged 'We are going to be the biggest club in the world," has embarrassed some Sheikhs who believe that he has lost an opportunity to gain respect. 'He should keep his head down or somebody will want to chop it off,' said one courtier.
They said this was wide of the mark, and Sheikh Mansour was set to use Manchester City as a springboard to improve football in the Gulf and enhance the international reputation of the United Arab Emirates. The management of signings will also be more pragmatic than so far suggested, they insist.
Following last weeks announcement of an investigation by Uefa into the financial management of football clubs Sulaiman al-Fahim`s braggadocio may yet prove counter productive.
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Your Comments
£425 Billion - What I could do with a days worth of interest on that!!
Rocky7
A day's interest would only be about £70m or so. Every hour it would make at least £3m. Ker-ching!
Amos.
"He should keep his head down or somebody will want to chop it off"... I hope it's just a business metaphor.
G4L
on a more serious note, I hope as many of today's world class players follow Cesc and Buffon and state their non-willingness to play for City in these circumstances. It would send a message to the rich boys that money isn't everything.
G4L
I think it'll take the best part of that 425bn to make Citeh into the greatest club in the world.
FAB 4
Good job he's got 550bn then isn't it ;)
oliverblue
" I hope it's just a business metaphor". Not likely.
k_chelski
Ona serious note, if we are realistically going to attract the likes of Fabregas, we are going to have to prove we can compete with the best. Regardless of money, that takes time! Hughes is the right man to do the job, but it will be a steady progress. A top 6 finish this season will be an outstanding achivevement, and I dont think too many of us honestly expect much more than that.
oliverblue
I wonder what your new owners are expecting oliverblue?
toffeetower
You could argue Hughes is under more pressure than ever to deliver now that the money is there, if he doesn't make sure City have atleast a top 10 finish (possibly more) this season he'd be sacked, simple as.
toffeetower
Toffeetower - you're bang on mate! Whilst Bluesy is smiling at the transfer kitty, he's probably sweating on the burden of expectation. Players like Fabregas, Ronaldo and Torres aren't going to come to us in January (if they are coming at all!). The squad we have now is good enough for the Top 6/7 I would hope. Whether that is good enough for the owners remains to be seen. As they say, money solves some problems, but creates others!
oliverblue
I think Citeh are living in a dreamland if they think the top players will suddently flock there! It just won't happen - two or three perhaps but it'll take time!
merlin
people like buffon and fabregas are people who are so loyal to their clubs they dont care about money atm while arsenal havnt won a trophy for a few years fabregas didnt leave and when juve got relegated he didnt leave
Arsenal_1_Best
The real question here is how long 'till Hughes is booted out for two draws and a loss, for example? Unless Citeh manage to go through Sept, Oct, Nov, & Dec. with a couple of losses and/or draws tops which will leave them in the hunt for a top5 spot, Hughes will be sacked. No (world class) player will want to come to City for footballing reasons, and there isn't too many Robinhos out there. The only ones available will be those looking for their last big contract. Now is the right time for the rest of the English clubs who actually have an academy and use it to develop players to tell those kids at M.City (who incidentally were the best in the country last year) that it is time to go to a club where they will develop further. The way things are going now at that club (Fantasy football style), they will never ever get a chance. A sad day for English football indeed.
G4L
no thats correct, because the abu dhabis uses Kuwaiti dinar as their currency, so they have over twice value for teir money, 1 kuwaiti dinar is about 2.50 GBP, plus, 245 billion, is because they are a sheikh, its like if you become a sheikh, you get rewarded with all that money straight away, and all that money of course...comes from oil...long live dumb americans for making the middle eastern even richer.
gooner_till_i_die
I'd say there is an 80% probability that City will make enough quality signings in January, given their obscent spending power, to take over up to 3rd spot in the league. That means either yourselves OR Liverpool being squeezed out of the CL spots. On current form I'd say Liverpool look ropey but are winning games, whereas Arsenal look classy as always but may struggle with injuries later on as last year. IMO This year will see a major change in the status quo, whichever one of you gets knocked out will have a hefty wage bill and less income, potentially a disaster waiting to happen. At least we at Spurs don't have any players left that City would want.LOL
bringbackhoddle
bbh, as I said they will need a helluva run to keep up with the top 4-5 teams until january and even if they do, which I strongly doubt, I don't see too many quality mercenaries on the market, especially in mid-season. Arshavin is one and you were after him. Even if they bring 6-7 players they will struggle to adapt. No Champions league for citeh, no world class players.
G4L
Mark Hughes also has this huge challenge of keeping his stars and owners happy by delivering results almost straightaway, and he's still a manager in the UEFA Cup bracket, unproven at the top level, no? These new signings from other European leagues need time to adapt and gel with the team too, no? Let's not talk as if new buys = winning games, getting points.
GoonerLou
This Man City take-over remains me of a Star Trek Next Generation story were some Rich Guy, steals Data for his Museum, to add to his other items that he had collected from different Worlds. Surely just collecting great players just proves that you have lots of money, but not much Brains?!
hackneyval
Another thing Well Done to Cesc, and others who have come out to say They are not interested in a Transfer to Man City, hope more players say the same, and don't do the same as Robino, who seems not to even know where he was!
hackneyval
look, no point crying over spilt milk here guys n gals. this has been happening for quite a while, its just that roman raised the bar when he arrived at chelski, and now the arabs are raising the bar even higher with citeh. no point slandering the backgrounds of the ADUG sheikhs and so forth. stop your whinging and get on with it. i think just as chelski has made the top 3 into a top 4, citeh will make it a top 5. this will be a great season to watch.
supersof
To be fair guys i don't think it will be long before the players statr cracking under the pressure of more money than they can dream of!!! If they are willing to spend then the players will come....uv only gotta look at Chelski, their money took them to another level. City are arguably a bigger club historically than Chelsea....Money rules the world guys n if you deluded Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and United fans dont believe it then ur in for a shock!!! Don't forget that when Chelsea first started signing players, the likes of Essien, Drogba, Ashley Cole etc were all either at or being linked with so called "bigger" teams.....they went with the dough and the dream!!! Others will do the same with City, u watch!!! PS cant wait til they offer 200 mil for Rooney and Ronaldo and the Glazers accept the bid!!! United aint as cash rich as City now and that maybe the deciding factor on the new "Big" team in Manchester!!!!! ha ha happy days!!
mani13963
And how do you feel about becoming succesful so cheaply?
paul_ownz
It would be a huge signal of Manchester City's ambition if they could lure Cesc Fabregas away from Arsenal.
Markcity
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