September 1, 2008 marks the day when Manchester City began their climb to join the elite of world football.
The Abu Dhabi United Group held negotiations with club owner, and former Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who agreed to hand over Manchester City for a reported sum of £200m. The deal saw the English side become the world’s wealthiest club.
In their first move, the Citizens attempted to hijack neighbour Manchester United’s bid for Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov for an estimated £30 million. But the Bulgarian wasn’t swayed, snubbing Manchester City and opting to play professional football at Old Trafford instead.
However, minutes before transfer window closed City announced they had struck a deal with Real Madrid for Brazilian star Robinho, thus setting in motion the British record transfer record of £32.5 million.
In future seasons, the club was able to finance a number of significant signings thanks to the back of Abu Dhabi. Since 2011, the club have won six major honours, including the Premier League in 2012 and 2014.
2001: Michael Owen hat-trick helps England beat Germany 5-1 in Munich with Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey scoring the other goals in the World Cup qualifier.
2007: Tim Henman loses to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the US Open second roundd, ending his Grand Slam career.
2011: Dai Greene wins gold in the men’s 400m hurdles at the World Championships in Daegu.
2013: Gareth Bale completes Tottenham-Real Madrid €100m transfer.
