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GOOD TO SEE CITY SHEIKH IT UP
Al-Fahim - arrival is a wake-up call for Big Four.
Stuart Pearce has expressed fears about the future of English football following the arrival of a new billionaire owner to the Premier League - but I think it's thrilling for the game.
The Abu Dhabi United Group's multi-million pound takeover of Manchester City on transfer deadline day earlier this week came totally out of the blue - but has laid down the gauntlet to the so-called 'Big Four'.
The Arabs flexed their financial muscle in barely batting an eyelid at shelling out £34million for Real Madrid's Robinho.
And although Manchester United and Chelsea, or the Glazers and Mr Abramovich to be more specific, will relish the challenge, it is Liverpool and Arsenal who face the greatest threat after many seasons in the comfort zone.
All four teams plan their budgets around being in the lucrative Champions League and reaping the rewards of the many millions it brings in to the coffers.
Last season saw Everton push their Merseyside rivals hard for fourth place before ultimately running out of juice and finishing 11 points behind the Reds.
But this time around Messrs Wenger and Benitez must tame an altogether different beast that spent nearly £70million in the summer transfer window, compared to Arsenal's £18.55m and Liverpool's £37.5m.
New City owner Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim reportedly has a wealth touching on a mind-boggling £500billion, totally eclipsing Roman's roubles, and has already talked of bidding £135m for Cristiano Ronaldo and trying to sign Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas.
That may be fanciful talk, but who cares? It makes for brilliant headlines, sparks lively debate down the boozer and puts the Premier League bang in the glare of the world's media.
Football needs characters as they're a rare breed these days. Last season provided one of the most exciting title races in recent memory - and the hunt for Champions League glory was pretty spicy too. But it was a snorefest due to the involvement of Avram Grant (remember him?) in both contests.
We welcomed Big Phil Scolari to the Premier League with open arms as Sir Alex once again has a rival to stand toe to toe with him in the verbal stakes, something sadly missing since the exit of Jose Mourinho.
And now City must be considered part of a new 'High Five', because if they manage to stay on the coat-tails of the league leaders come January, Al-Fahim will not think twice about splashing out a few hundred million on the likes of Messi, Kaka, Torres or Fabregas.
It's unlikely he'll actually lure any of them to Eastlands, but who would have thought Robinho - who had his 'heart set on Chelsea' - would turn his back on Champions League football and trophies with Real for a move to City, who are doing battle for the 'tinpot' UEFA Cup.
In this day and age, the power of the pound rules supreme - and although some see the arrival of the world's best players to the Premier League as a negative, surely it also raises the standard throughout the league and pushes our English superstars to their absolute limits.
It'll be interesting to see what happens when City lose a few games and the current wave of euphoria fizzles out - but Mark Hughes and City supporters will already be dreaming of January's window of opportunity, and I'm sure Al-Fahim will not disappoint them.
