HOW'S this for a statement of intent - breaking the British transfer record a mere few hours after buying over an English club, snaring a player coveted by the previous richest club in the Barclays Premier League?

To new Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour Zayed Al-Nahyan and his right-hand man Sulaiman Al-Fahim, this is but the tip of the iceberg.

Monday's audacious snare of Real Madrid star and long-time Chelsea target Robinho, for a cool £'32.5 million (S$81.4 million), announced the lofty ambitions of these billionaires from Abu Dhabi.

Already Al-Fahim, 31, the frontman of the Abu Dhabi United Group of investors who bought over Man City, wants to emulate the impact that Chelsea's own Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, had in the Premier League, reported the Press Association.

When asked to compare the investment group's takeover with Abramovich's takeover in 2003, he said: 'It will be the same.We would like to see Manchester City fighting for trophies in every tournament.

'We don't just want to be challenging for trophies in England, but also in the Champions League. We want them to be in for every trophy available.'

Here's the biggest difference - Abramovich's estimated wealth stands at £13.2 billion, according to The Telegraph.

The estimated wealth of Al-Nahyan, who is the brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi and bankrolls the investment group? A whopping £500 billion.

Already, crazy bids have been bandied around the rumour mill.

Cristiano Ronaldo for £135 million during the January transfer window? Possible, said Al-Fahim, a property mogul who is ranked 16th in Arabian Business Magazine's list of 100 most powerful Arabs.

Ruud van Nistelrooy? Real Madrid said they received a blank cheque from the Arabs for the Dutchman's services, which was turned down.

Fernando Torres? Francesc Fabregas? Thierry Henry? David Villa? These red-hot football stars are easily within the Man City owners' financial reach.

This takeover is, however, the latest bid by the Abu Dhabi ruling family to outdo the other successful emirate in the UAE, Dubai.

It splashed out £91 million for a 5 per cent stake in Ferrari three years ago, in the hope Formula One will give the city a Grand Prix.

And the emirate has also bought one of New York's best known skyscrapers, the Chrysler Building, for £800 million last year.

Furthermore, Al-Nahyan's deep coffers have been boosted by the surge in oil prices. The Mirror reported that, every time the price of a barrel goes up a dollar, Abu Dhabi makes another US$500 million (S$713 million) a day.

In Al-Fahim, they also have a frontman who is as flamboyant as Abramovich is reticent.

He is chief executive of Hydra Properties, a two-year-old company which has already signed more than ?1 billion worth of contracts in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Mexico and around the world.

Al-Fahim also hosts his own reality show, The Hydra Executives, an Arabic version of The Apprentice.

He is regularly seen in Hollywood and was recently pictured with Leonardo di Caprio. So these two billionaires from Abu Dhabi have raised the bar to extraordinary heights.

Will they spend enough to bring success to Man City?

Every fan awaits.

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