Source: Daily_Mail
Lap of luxury for City stars as they jet out to Abu Dhabi training base
The tools of a football training session are familiar the world over. Balls, nets, cones, dummies, flags. Some sessions, however, are just different. [LNB]Last night, in the warmth of a Middle East evening, Manchester City manager Mark Hughes stood on the touchline of a purpose-built pitch, laid in only three months, in the shadow of Abu Dhabi's stunning Emirates Palace Hotel. [LNB]Beneath the gaze of the city skyline and the seven-star hotel that is his home whenever he comes here, Hughes talked football with the men at the heart of the world's richest football club. [LNB] It's Palace up next: City train in the shadow of their seven-star hotel[LNB]Clad in traditional Arab dress, City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and three associates looked - and were greeted - like royalty. They are not, of course, but the club's owner Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan most definitely is. [LNB]It is the Sheik's money on which sky blue dreams are now built. He has not been to a City game yet but has promised he will before the season is out. His purchase and transformation of a middling English football club has been as remarkable as was the scene here last night at what will now become their regular winter training base. [LNB]If ever there was proof needed of how much football is changing, here it was. On one side of the white line as City coach Eddie Niedzwiecki put the players through his tried and tested drills it was the world as we know it. On the other side, it really was not. [LNB]Not surprisingly, Hughes feels the responsibility deeply. 'I've been here many times but it doesn't stop me being amazed by the scale of it,' the City manager said. [LNB]Returning to fitness: Robinho[LNB]'Every time you come here you are astounded by that. We understand that this is a young nation and they are trying to build their nation with iconic buildings and we may well be part of that process. We have to take that responsibility on board. [LNB]'There are comparisons to be made between the building that's going on here and the building we are trying to do at City. This country is striding very, very quickly in the right direction. And we as a club want to match that.' [LNB]Having made its fortune on the back of oil, Abu Dhabi has seemingly spent much of it on sport. [LNB]Its spectacular new Formula One circuit recently witnessed Jenson Button's coronation, the Zayed Cricket Stadium is currently hosting a one-day series between New Zealand and Pakistan, while tomorrow City will play the United Arab Emirates national team at the newly refurbished Zayed Sports City Stadium that will host the FIFA Club World Cup in December. [LNB]Tomorrow's game is sold out to the stadium's current 20,000-capacity, but it would be wrong to say there was a scramble for tickets. City are not being pushed as Abu Dhabi's club, even if the marketing campaign in the local press describes the game as 'Our Country versus Our City'.[LNB] Instead, senior sources stressed last night that Sheik Mansour's purchase of the club was a 'private equity play'. In other words, it's his toy. A big one. [LNB]'Yes we do feel the pressure of all this,' said City's Argentina right back Pablo Zabaleta yesterday. 'We have a lot of pressure. This season the club and the owners spent a lot of money on new players. The club - and again, the owners - made a big effort. But it's OK because we have quality, too.'[LNB] With most of Hughes's first team on international duty, this City squad is a youthful one. But Zabaleta is here, Stephen Ireland is here and the injured Craig Bellamy and Robinho are here. [LNB] City boy: Craig Bellamy is in the Middle East after pulling out of the Wales squad[LNB]City fans anxious to hear of Robinho's return to fitness will be delighted to know he scored from the halfway line in front of chairman Khaldoon last night, while the Brazilian was also at the front when it was time to do some circuits of the pitch. For a while, at least. [LNB]Elsewhere during this visit, City's players will take part in coaching clinics and community visits, while chief executive Garry Cook continues his attempts to integrate what was once a very British football club into Arab culture. [LNB]Yesterday, for example, City announced a new sponsorship deal with local telecoms service provider Etisalat that sits alongside a deal with the airline Etihad. [LNB] Pressure: Pablo Zabaleta has revealed he feels the need for success after the club's new owners made a huge outlay on new players this summer[LNB]Ultimately, however, the success of this fascinating long-term venture will rest with Hughes and his staff. The sheer number of City employees on this visit is testimony to the resources the manager has at his disposal. Pretty soon there will be more players, too. [LNB]One of the club's current mantras is that the Sheik will not throw huge sums at the squad just for the hell of it. Nevertheless, there is more available if and when Hughes needs it. Considerably more. [LNB]Sitting by the pool at the Emirates Palace yesterday lunchtime were City legends Mike Summerbee and Tommy Booth. Thankfully City have remembered not to let go of their past. [LNB]The future, though, will be very different. Last night provided more evidence of that.[LNB] Barcelona prepare to open Robinho bidding with cheeky £22m offerAngry Hughes hits back at Hansen's Match of the Day Man City jibesSpurs splash out more than United, Arsenal, Liverpool and ChelseaCity, Chelsea and United on alert as Bayern prepare to sell Franck RiberyMANCHESTER CITY FC
