Behind every billionaire there is a story!

Abu Dhabi Takes on Abramovich to Rule English Soccer

At Manchester City soccer club’s store, assistants are busy selling sky-blue team shirts. The most popular is Robinho’s, whose 32.5 million-pound ($57 million) signing this month set an English record.Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, which agreed to buy Manchester City on Sept. 1, said it aims to make the club the biggest in soccer. Right now, City isn’t even the largest in Manchester. The club hasn’t won a major trophy since the 1976 League Cup and lives under the shadow of 17-time English champion Manchester United.

The purchase of Robinho from Real Madrid was not only the biggest single transfer deal for a player in the English Premier League. The group, fronted by Abu Dhabi property developer Sulaiman Al-Fahim, also snatched a striker who was being targeted by the league’s wealthiest investor, Chelsea’s billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich.

“It’s amazing,” said Ross McGugh, a 21-year-old student in the northwest English city who had just spent 42 pounds to buy his version of Robinho’s shirt. The Abu Dhabi owners “will take us to the next level.”

Tomorrow, Chelsea travels north to Manchester from London to meet City in a match that’s become a clash between the league’s biggest spenders.

City’s purchase of Brazilian international Robinho, who helped Real to two Spanish league titles, beat the 31 million pounds Chelsea paid A.C. Milan for Andrei Shevchenko in 2006.

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