Robinho's Arabian Revolution Begins

                After what can only be described as an enthralling final day of the transfer window in the Barclay’s Premiership the repercussions felt from it are set to change the face of English football for good.

Two record breaking transfer fees and the signalling of a prospective new footballing superpower isn’t bad for a gloomy start to September.

                With Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG) seemingly finalising a deal to take over Manchester City less than 24 hours before the deadline passed, the new boys in Premiership playground made an impact that surely made every chairman in Europe, let alone England, sit up and listen.

                Targeting five attacking talents – in the shape of Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbatov, Valencia’s David Villa, Stuttgart’s Mario Gomez, Brazilian legend Ronaldo, and the now Eastland’s-bound Robinho – who, minus Ronaldo, would be great assets to any Champions League competing side, was an ambitious start to say the least.

                The bid for Berbatov, who has been courted all summer and subsequently signed by, city rivals Manchester United for a reported £30.75m, could be considered cheeky, but the signing of Robinho, who has been poised to sign for Chelsea and big-bucks owner Roman Abramovich, can be consider nothing less than a coup.

Costing City’s new owners the tidy sum of £32.5m, Robinho, as well as new derby rival Berbatov, both surpassed the British transfer record of £30m paid by Chelsea for Andriy Shevchenko in summer 2006.

Losing out in this fashion is a new experience for Abramovich, who is far from used to being outbid by anyone, but, with a fortune amassing in the region of £560bn, ADUG have a clear edge over the Russian, dwarfing has paltry-looking £11.7bn wealth.

But this is hardly surprising when key figures are members of the royal family of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.

This new big player in the transfer market looks set to shake-up not only the big four of the Premier League, but also the whole attitude towards the running of football clubs there too.

Is it really likely that a team such as Arsenal, renowned for their shrewdness in the transfer market and dislike for big money signings, will be able to cope with at least three competitors willing to splash £30m-plus on new additions to the squad?

Even Tottenham, who are perhaps a season and a player or two off a credible challenge for a Champion’s League spot, will be unsure whether their high-spending antics over the last few seasons will allow them to overcome two of North London rivals Arsenal, Liverpool or Man City and their new-found deep pockets.

This potentially leaves teams without big-money backers as targets for similar sugar daddies to those at both sides of Manchester, Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle, Aston Villa (oh, and QPR), to try and unlock the Holy Grail of the Premiership’s global marketing appeal.

So whether by the time the transfer window reopens there will be a fresh batch of oil magnates, property developers and entrepreneurs getting out their cheque books we can’t be sure, but one thing’s for certain, it’ll be a busy January with ADUG scanning the market.

Their next target? Only a certain Cristiano Ronaldo for about £134m.

If you thought there was silly money in football before now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.