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Spoke to soon. Here is the Robinho story. My bet is that Robinho still goes to Chelsea. It will just be in January and not now.

Spoke to soon? No way. Robinho is at Manchester City. It's been all over Soccernet since last night. 32.5 million pounds. I'm not sold on the midfield options, but ManCity has a STACKED attack with SWP, Jo and now Robinho.

It's going to be an interesting season. With Torres out for Liverpool for the next three weeks, teams like ManCity, Villa, T'ham and Sunderland need to take advantage as Liverpool's attack looks absolutely insipid so far this year.

Could Robinho and wealthy owners be just what City needs? Anything short of the UEFA cup would be a disappointment.

What I meant was I didn't see the Robinho story when I commented on it on the Bradley page.

If they intend to keep Robinho for the long haul then yeah, I agree with you Pantherfan. They have to make UEFA.

The emirate--I foget his name--who's pouring in the cash calls himself the "new Abramovich." Hughes is pumped about the "statement of intent" this makes. City has been trying to make some splashes for a couple of years now, and they've done it. J. Hova, I don't think he'll go in January because of all that.

It'll be interestign how it all plays out. Someone could sneak into the top four.

City pips Chelsea for a striker?? Has the world gone mad??

I like this for Siddy. He is an explosive player and a reasonably big name. He will match upo well with Elano. This could be the one thing they needed to break into the top 4. They wont stop here either.

kopper -

If Liverpool keeps playing like crap then ManCity could sneak in. Their current form looks dangerous and adding a playmaker like Robinho was a smart move. ManU and Chelski are too deep and talanted to finish anywhere but 1-2. Arsenal, as always, will come close but stay at third place. They are still a year or two off from being able to strike a balance between UCL and EPL play.

Torres is probably my favorite player in the Premiership and the world for that matter. The guy is a stud. With the way Keane is choking, I shudder to think how Liverpool will fare without their proven match-winner. Someone has to step up. Ryan Babel comes to mind.....

Playing like crap--I wish they'd been playing that well. They've looked bloody awful, and with Torres and Stevie G out, who knows how many points adrift LFC may fall! I'm not too worried about Keane; he'll come around, especially if Rafa doesn't keep him chained to the left touchline like he did in the first half on Sunday. But this could be a long, lost season before long.

Its nice to see some of our U.S. oil money is going to a good cause. I'll gladly pay $4 a gallon for Man City to shake things up. The only that would be better is if they brought Beasley back and paid him $50,000 a week.

I'd like to see City do well and Robi, too.

Money, however, isn't the guarantee it used to be. What is happening at Real Madrid right now proves it.

After much reading I take back my first comment. I did not know of the City takeover and that this Emirate is really serious.

Robinho is definitely there for the long haul. I just hope that the Emirate doesn't really act like Abramovich and try to sack Hughes before his time.

Finally a challenge in Manchester, i just don't like how the EPL is going and getting foreign owners and buying everyone while the rest of europe stands still

i think no one could have imagined how insane these last 24 hours could have been for Man City. And although i am glad and excited to see Robinho finally move. Let's not forget he STILL hasn't proven anything in the EPL yet, it's a big expensive gamble they are taking on Robinho but i personally believe it will work out for them, so let's see what happens...

It's been a record setting transfer year for the EPL. Unbelievable amount of transfer going on I can barely keep up. Eddie Johnson on loan to Cardiff City from Fulham. Wow. Just Kidding.

This move by Man City is crazy. It's an excellent move I just can't believe they pulled it off. That team is absolutely loaded and will definitely challenge the top four.

man city attack is amazing but midfield and defense and still questionable, still need some keys to be a world class team

Your right g4. But if they're willing to dish out that much money for Robinho I'm sure they'll dish out some more to fill those holes.

Their defense is not as bad as people think. They've added some solid players in Ben-Haim and Vincent Kompany so it will be interesting to see how the season develops for them.

buying Robinho is a bold move by City. Could turn out to be genius if he shows the talent people think he has, or could be a total disaster if he continues to whine and moan like he did at Real (though i think Mark Hughes will not stand for that sort of thing). if it works then Liverpool need to keep one eye open behind them because Spurs and Man City have made moves to place themselves as early contenders (on paper at least) for the fourth Champions League spot. And Liverpool's early form shows the spot is definitely open.

J-H -

Good point about the defense, but I still don't retract my comment. Ben-Haim and Kompany are both solid players when their volatile personalities are kept in check. Micah Richards is a stud and could be England captain one day, but he's oft-injured. But that's it. Three defenders of note and the rest are nameless. Not very deep. They also won't be able to cover for a lackadaisical midfield comprised mainly of natural wingers and attacking mids.

The midfield is weak. Technically Petrov, Elano and SWP are listed at midfield, but everyone knows they are attacking middies and wingers who prefer not to play any defense.

Buy hey with all that depth in the attacking third, maybe they won't need any box-to-box mids? Maybe competent players who can simply place the ball will be enough. Seems like with the Robinho and Jo signings that they plan on developing most of their offense in the attacking third anyway.

Just an observation, considering they really don't have any solid box-to-box midfielders or Makalele-type players other than Dietmar Hamann, who is pretty decent.

It'll be interesting to watch them play. Talented defense + no pure midfield + insane options at attack. Could it be a top four finish?

I can see Manchester City be a cradle for Chelsea, in regards to the Robinho transfer.