Man City's new owners plan spree

Manchester City's new owners say money is no object in their bid to take the club to the top.

The Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, which already owns the Chrysler Building in New York and a stake in Ferrari, announced its takeover of the club on Monday.

Group spokesman Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim told ITV News City manager Mark Hughes' new employers' goal was "to be the best club after three years".

That could even mean paying up to £80 million to take Cristiano Ronaldo from arch-rivals Manchester United, he said.

He has also confirmed the group is interested in Liverpool's Fernando Torres and Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas.

The club already spent heavily in the summer, attracting manager Hughes from Blackburn Rovers and signing Jo, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Vincent Kompany, Tal Ben-Haim, Leandro Glauber and Pablo Zabaleta. They also appointed Garry Cook as executive chairman.

And now it appears they will have a blank cheque book with which to attract more talent.

Dr Al Fahim said: "Man City has a special thing for the Manchester people. They really love Man City and they would like to see Man City coming back to the old days when they used to get the trophies and the victories.

He denied the sudden arrival of enormous wealth from the Middle East will harm English football, saying: "We are going to change Manchester City forever. We will not change the whole of football.

"There are a lot of other rich clubs in the Premier League. I think adding an extra team like Man City to compete against Chelsea, Liverpool, Man United, will add value to the whole tournament."

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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