New Money In Football, Italy at a Crossroads: A Week of Big Take

Back in 2007, investors from Dubai attempted to buy storied English football club Liverpool, only to lose out to US rivals. A Middle Eastern approach for Manchester United was also dismissed by the club’s US-based owners, the Glazer family. A year later, the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment bought Manchester City from a former prime minister of Thailand and promised to bring “the best football players in the world” to the club.

Fast forward, add at least $2 billion spent on players and the latest training facilities, and Manchester City could become the first state-backed club to triumph in Europe's best known-club competition, the Champions League.