The day that Sheik Mansour of Abu Dhabi bought Manchester City remains etched in the memory.
One moment, City were about to sink into oblivion under the reckless control of Thaksin Shinawatra; the next, a club employee was blinking hard with disbelief as she faxed a £32million transfer request to Real Madrid for the registration of Brazil forward Robinho.
In the following days and weeks, English football began to wonder if its familiar landscape - one with Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool at its centre - was about to change for ever.
Two years on, it is finally threatening to happen. City's progress to the top of the English game has been relatively slow.
Chelsea did it almost as soon as Roman Abramovich's money arrived in 2003, finishing second the following season and reaching the last four of the Champions League.
Abramovich has poured in more than £400m in transfer fees alone since taking over but the club were starting from a position of relative strength in their bid to overthrow Manchester United's dominance.
They had finished fourth the season before takeover. City had finished ninth - behind Portsmouth and Blackburn - and had lost their final League game 8-1 at Middlesbrough.
During two recent weeks in the United States, the strength of the modern City - one built by investment in excess of £300m - has been apparent.
In the mixed[/youtube]zone after their game in Baltimore last Saturday, they walked past us. Shay Given, Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy, Yaya Toure, Gareth Barry.
Last week, in Germany, they were joined by Spanish World Cup winner David Silva, Germany's Jerome Boateng and Carlos Tevez of Argentina.
City boss Roberto Mancini says that James Milner and Mario Balotelli will be joining the cast list by Thursday, taking this summer's spending spree past the £125m mark.
It is, it must be said, an increasingly impressive pool of players. Arguably, City now have the most talented and deepest squad in the Premier League.
They could now field two teams of internationals. They had 13 players on World Cup duty in South Africa this summer.
But can this squad win the Premier League this season? Certainly, it could. Will it? It's unlikely.
A team needs a tried and trusted core of players if it is to succeed, individuals who instinctively know and understand each other and will drag a team through the difficulties of a demanding season.
Although they haven't spent heavily this summer, City's title rivals Chelsea and Manchester United have that core.
At Arsenal, meanwhile, Arsene Wenger presides over a team that has been growing for some time.
Consider a player like Gael Clichy: a 'young' full back who has now actually been at the club for seven years and has more than 200 appearances under his belt.
City cannot buy this experience. They will have to wait for it. On the opening day of the season, for example, the club's longest serving player could feasibly be goalkeeper Given, who has been at the club for only 18 months.
As Mancini looks to hit the ground running and avoid the pressure that would follow any kind of early stumbles, trying to bring this squad of eclectic players together could be his greatest challenge.
It will not faze the Italian. Beneath the easy charm and behind the ready smile, Mancini is a tough man.
The new football season starts in just a few weeks and teams are gearing up by rebuilding their squads. A number of leading stars - including Man City's Craig Bellamy - are likely to move. So, ahead of the upcoming campaign, who do you want your side to bring in? He now has his own backroom staff to support him after the summer appointments of David Platt and Attilio Lombardo. That will help.
Nevertheless, the task he faces is enormous. The effects of his rigorous training sessions last season have not been forgotten by his players.
He remains relatively unpopular with some of them and that could yet be something that comes back to trouble him, especially when it comes to persuading some of them to serve time on the substitutes' bench.
Certainly, City would appear to have bought well this summer. They have purchased players of sound character.
Toure looks perfect for the Premier League, as laconic as he is physically formidable, while full backs Boateng and the Serbian Aleksandar Kolarov have impeccable backgrounds.
Neverthless, Mancini's squad looks peculiarly short of top-class central defenders and the emotional mentalities of players like Adebayor, Tevez and Bellamy must be considered.
These are forwards who flourish with regular football but are not the best to have around when they are not in the team.
Managing this is part of Mancini's job and certainly the arrival of Platt will help. The two men are close and Platt is a good coach and thinker.
He will provide a buffer between Mancini and the players that wasn't there last season and, at times, that will be critical.
Across town, at Old Trafford, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has watched with interest.
Unable to benefit from an endless supply of money, Ferguson has added defender Chris Smalling and the impressive-looking Mexican forward Javier Hernandez.
But it may transpire that his most important piece of business was to persuade centre half Nemanja Vidic to stay.
Without the obvious impetus brought by new players, it is crucial to United's chances this season that their senior pros perform consistently well.
Players like Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney are always important, but never more so than now.
Ferdinand will begin the season injured, of course, while Rooney has not played well since suffering an ankle injury in Munich in April.
From the outside looking in, this looks like being a challenging year for United.
Only the foolish write them off, but in terms of the title it is tempting to do so this time.
All this points to Chelsea once again. Arsenal have it within them to mount a credible challenge this year and the return of Robin van Persie will bring them an edge denied them by the inconsistency of Nicklas Bendtner last time round.
Chelsea, though, look formidable. Key players such as Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Soloman Kalou had relatively short World Cups and that should enable the champions to start well.
In Carlo Ancelotti's second season in charge they should improve and, if they do, then that should see them hold off their rivals, both old and new.
Certainly, City should be preparing for the Champions League in a year's time and they will certainly win the Premier League title some day soon.
Whether they can manage it this season remains to be seen. It is a big ask.
Arsenal turn to Given to solve keeper crisis
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will ask Manchester City to give him keeper Shay Given - after being warned off his team-mate Joe Hart.
Hart looks set for an incredible week for both club and country with managers Roberto Mancini and Fabio Capello ready to make him their first choice for City and England.
Wenger is desperate for a new number one and his sights are now on City where Republic of Ireland ace Given is facing life on the bench.
Given would leap at the chance of joining the Gunners, probably on loan, if Wenger gets the nod from ambitious City.
Wenger has cooled on his pursuit of Fulham veteran Mark Schwarzer because he would have to pay a fee for him and give him a lucrative two-year contract to move across London.
The Arsenal chief has quietly looked into his chances of landing highly-rated Hart but City see him as their long-term number one and Mancini is expected to make that official next weekend.
City could easily hold on to both Hart and Given, but the Irishman has never been a willing reserve in his career - and the Arsenal opportunity would appeal to him.
Wenger would prefer a loan arrangement, but his bosses may find the cash if Arsenal rate Given as a long-term bet and City are prepared to trade.
City boss Mancini admitted he faced a dilemma over whether to choose Hart, who excelled on loan at Birmingham last term, or Given, who enjoyed a superb debut season at Eastlands until a shoulder injury ruled him out towards the end of the campaign.
But with Given still making his way back to full fitness and Hart having impressed in pre-season, Mancini is set to go with the 23-year-old England keeper for City’s Premier League opener at Tottenham.
Although Mancini claimed he had yet to decide which of his two keepers would start the new season, senior City sources have indicated Hart will get the nod, with Given facing a battle to re-establish himself as the club’s undisputed No.1.
“It’s not a big decision with the goalkeepers,” said Mancini. “I’m fortunate because I have two strong goalkeepers and that’s important in a long season. But I still have one week to decide who shall play.
“I have an idea who will play in goal but I have one week more to choose. I have two fantastic goalkeepers and if we play Joe, I think Shay will still have a role in the team. And if I pick Shay, then Joe will help him.
“It’s important because if there’s an injury to a goalkeeper, if we don’t have another good one to play then that would be a problem for us. But we are lucky because we have two important goalkeepers.
“At this moment we have two good goalkeepers. One will play and one will stay on the bench. But we will be playing many games, a lot of games, in one year - three games every week - so we could play both goalkeepers.”
Manchester United are planning a last-gasp bid to snatch Aston Villa midfielder James Milner from underneath the noses of their neighbours Manchester City.caughtoffside.com
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is keeping tabs on Steven Pienaar's contract situation at Everton and is preparing an offer for the midfielder. Daily Mail
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is ready to offload striker Peter Crouch, with Lyon frontman Loic Remy issuing a come-and-get-me plea to Spurs. Daily Mail
Barcelona midfielder Xavi insists Cesc Fabregas's stay at Arsenal could only be temporary. The Gunners captain, subject to speculation regarding a move to the Nou Camp, revealed last week he would remain at the Emirates. Xavi said: "We've given up on the idea of him arriving now but maybe he'll come in January when Arsenal are out of the Premier League race. They can't just hold him against his will." IM Scouting
Queens Park Rangers are the latest club to be linked with striker Marlon King, currently looking for employment after serving nine months in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in a London bar. Daily Mail
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson is targeting former Arsenal midfield star Alexander Hleb, who has been told he has not got a future at Barcelona. caughtoffside.com
Blackburn are trying to tie up a deal for Fenerbahce's £5m-rated Spain striker Dani Guiza. Daily Mail
Newcastle boss Chris Hughton is considering a move for Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng. caughtoffside.com
