Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the money man behind
Manchester City.
Roman Abramovich officially lost his place as football’s
richest man last night - as the new world order saw Manchester
City named as the dominant financial force.
Chelsea’s owner has headed the annual rich list of football
owners since arriving out of nowhere to oversee his blue revolution
in 2003. But five years later and having spent £600million on
players, wages and Stamford Bridge, Abramovich has lost top spot to
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the money man behind Manchester
City.
The transfer of power from Russian to Middle East oil is stark
proof of the sheer scale of funds that City boss Mark Hughes has at
his disposal.
Abramovich is now not even the wealthiest club boss in the
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, having been overtaken by
Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, the major investor at QPR. Yet
David Beckham’s status as the richest player remains unchallenged
with a fortune estimated at £125m, more than three times that of
nearest - and distant - challenger Michael Owen.
The new sea change at the top is no surprise but suggests why
Chelsea have entered a new era of relative austerity as they seek
to become "self-funding" by the end of the next financial year.
While Abramovich’s estimated wealth once stood at £7billion, he
is believed to have lost a third of that in the world economic
downturn. That helps to explains why the Russian oligarch has
turned off the money taps at the Bridge, telling boss Luiz Felipe
Scolari there will be no money available in the transfer window,
with even the £12m raised by the sale of Wayne Bridge placed on
hold until the summer.
Sheikh Mansour’s elevation to the top of the list, compiled by
FourFourTwo magazine, is no surprise after his incredible takeover
at City. Even before his buy-out of Thaksin Shinawatra was
completed, Sheikh Mansour, estimated to be worth £15bn, had
gazumped Chelsea to land Scolari’s prime target, Real Madrid
striker Robinho, in a British record £32.5m deal.
That is just the start of a spree likely to surpass even
Abramovich’s outlay of £121m in his first year as Blues owner.
Bridge is set to be followed into Eastlands by a clutch of new
signings as Sheikh Mansour gives Hughes the heaviest purse in the
history of the game, despite a run of poor results including the FA
Cup embarrassment by Nottingham Forest.
