Manchester City Football Club News

• Nickname:Sky Blues
• Founded:1887
• Manager:Roberto Mancini

• Ground:City of Manchester Stadium
• Capacity:48,000

Hughes lauds City ambition

02 Sep 2008 - 08:14:54

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Mark Hughes believes Manchester City have sent out a massive statement of intent following their British transfer record capture of Brazil star Robinho.

City, who are on the verge of a takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, sent shockwaves through European football late on Monday evening when they signed the forward from Real Madrid for a fee in the region of £33.5million.

The 24-year-old had been expected to join Chelsea before City - who also tried to hijack Manchester United's bid to sign Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov - emerged with their record bid.

The deal eclipsed the £30.8million Chelsea paid AC Milan to land Andriy Shevchenko in May 2006.

Robinho has put pen to paper on a four-year deal at Eastlands, which reports claim is worth around £150,000 per week.

"I am absolutely delighted to get the opportunity to work with such an incredible talent like Robinho," Hughes told the club's official website.

"I have said that in order to compete with the best teams in the Premier League we have to be in the market for players of this calibre, and Robinho is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world."

Meanwhile the owner-elect of the club, Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, expects City to be challenging Europe's elite clubs for silverware in the not too distant future.

"We would like to see Manchester City fighting for trophies in every tournament," he revealed.

"We don't just want Manchester City to be challenging for trophies in England, but also in the Champions League.

"We want them to be in for every trophy available."