It's fair to say that supporters of Manchester City will not forget events of six years ago today in a hurry.
The Citizens were more used to seeing their side battle against relegation and not always successfully, so much so that during the 1990s, the club ended up in the third tier of English football.
However, just hours after City had been taken over by Abu Dhabi United Group, they were in negotiations with Spanish giants Real Madrid regarding the signing of their Brazilian international Robinho.
Chelsea had been working on a deal to sign the attacker for some time, but City's new financial muscle put them in pole position to secure the 24-year-old's services in the final hours of the transfer window. As it was, not long before the deadline was due to pass, City confirmed that they had captured Robinho for £32.5m, which broke the British transfer record.
"I am absolutely delighted to get the opportunity to work with such an incredible talent like Robinho. This is a real statement of intent as to the ambitions of this club," manager Mark 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, Madrid president Ramon Calderon added: "We have sold Robinho for reasons of a human nature and for sporting reasons. The fact that he has accepted an offer from Manchester City says that he is not going for sporting reasons.
"It's an important sum of money. It's not the objective of Real Madrid to sell players, neither do we need the money, but for reasons of human and sporting nature, it has been decided this is for the best.
"It's a decision agreed by all the coaching staff, who understand it is best for the player and for the club. He's a great kid, but badly advised."
Robinho's first season in the Premier League was a largely productive one as he scored 14 goals, making him the club's top scorer.
However, he suffered a serious ankle injury during the following campaign, but even after his recovery, he failed to force his way into the starting lineup on a regular basis and he was loaned out to his boyhood club Santos in January 2010, before being sold to AC Milan later that year.
At present, Robinho is now back with Santos for a third spell after Milan sanctioned a season-long loan switch earlier this summer.
Liam Apicella
