Manchester City's new spending power has been best illustrated by the details of their capture of Robinho.

The Independent says City not only broke the British transfer record to sign Robinho from Real Madrid but also paid the £32.5 million fee up front!

It's also revealed that the player's agents received payments totalling £4.2m to ensure that the deal went through before the summer transfer window closed.

"If they [Abu Dhabi] had not come on the scene, then Robinho would have gone to Chelsea," a source said. "But they did and Chelsea decided not to pay. It was totally Roman Abramovich's decision."

Over the length of Robinho's four-year contract, along with all other fees, he will end up costing Manchester City's new owners something in the region of £70m.