Manchester City's spending power is unheard of in football - and is only going to get bigger in the transfer windows ahead.
The Telegraph says a director of one of the traditional top four clubs was recently given a very special mission: find out what budget Manchester City have - and whether they intend to continue spending.
He came back with, for his club and the rest of the Premier League, and possibly eventually Europe, bad news.
Not only had City spent a cool £325 million on new players in the two years under the ownership of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan - in addition to buying the club for £210 million in August 2008 - but that figure was actually significantly under what had been budgeted for in Abu Dhabi.
It was discovered by the director that Sheikh Mansour had earmarked around £500 million alone for transfer deals - net of any receipts from sales that the club achieved during that time. The surplus of that money is still there, to be spent, if the right players can be found.
