Manchester City's new owners have promised fans a raft of big-name signings as they welcomed Robinho from Real Madrid last night. Thaksin Shinawatra's mounting financial problems forced him to sell his majority stake to the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development (ADUG) this week.

Negotiations over the extraordinary takeover began three weeks ago and were completed late on Sunday at Emirates Palace Hotel in Dubai, when a deal was struck between Shinawatra and the ADUG consortium, says the Mirror. To get some idea of how much City's new owners are worth, multiply Chelsea supremo Roman Abramovich's £15bn personal fortune by 10 and you are somewhere near the vast amount of money they have at their disposal.

As such, they are aiming for the very top.

"Our goal is very simple," said Dr Sulaiman Al Fahim, who is heading the ADUG consortium. "To make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premier League and, to begin with, finish in the top four this season.

"I like to have a challenge and looked at Manchester City as a club where you can add a lot and make them into one of the top four clubs in England.

"We will support the manager by bringing in the best players and it is his job to support them."