As we head into this great weekend of EPL matches, the news of the day so far must be the headliner of Soccernet at the moment, which declares that Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres are fit for Saturday’s match against Manchester United. I believe I mentioned this could be the case earlier in the week, as the “he won’t play, he won’t play, oh wait, he’s fine” ploy has probably been in existence for as long as sports have been around.

That said, what a relief if the article is correct, because it makes this a mouth-watering fixture as a somewhat stagnant Liverpool squad tries to come up with a statement performance early in the season. Interesting storylines will obviously be the effectiveness of the two returning Liverpool stars and the potential productivity of Wayne Rooney, who is coming off a very strong performance in England’s dismantling of Croatia on Wednesday night. And while United has skated through the first two games without Cristiano Ronaldo, this will be the real test when they hit the hostile environment at Anfield. Can’t wait....

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Robinho is king of the faded out look as of late. Check out these hilarious pictures in recent weeks. How bout a smile?

 Check it out here: http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d9-Robinho-aka-Mr-Photogenic

So as I scramble around trying to buy up as many tickets as possible while I’m in London, this article caught my attention. The general gist is that Kaka would consider joining Manchester City and their free-spending ways this next summer if they qualify for the Champions League – which would require a Top-4 finish in the English Premier League (which most likely means knocking out Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal or Chelsea).

This is an interesting development in itself, as Kaka would be an extremely fun addition for the EPL and obviously improve City. But the more important issue is what it’s going to take this season for Manchester City to become a lucrative enough location for star players to jump at the type of money they appear willing to offer.

These new owners can throw all the green in the world at the stars, but the best players still want to play in the most high-profile competitions and would not be too excited about spending an initial season at City if they aren’t qualified for the granddaddy of all events. In fact, you could argue a Top-4 placement is pretty stinkin’ necessary if they want to pull off their desired one- or two-year rise to the elite of Europe.

So the main question is, 1) With the additions of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Robinho, can City go from good to great within this current season, and within that question 2) Can they lure other targets during the January transfer window?

To the first question, it honestly seems almost too tall a task....

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Take this seemingly complex, overwhelming shift in English Premier League power, and simplify it down a little bit. That’s the best way to attack the chaos that ensued yesterday.

Fact: Manchester City was just sold by Thaksin Shinawatra to the Adu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment for a reported 210 million pounds. The Guardian

Fact: This new group, led by Sulaiman al-Fahim, now plans on making City the largest club in the Premiership. This Guardian article says al-Fahim’s wealth is supposed to be 10 times more than Chelsea benefactor Roman Abramovich, and money should be flowing into the club. The article also says that al-Fahim is claiming to be simply a “figurehead for members of the (United Arab Emirates)’s royal family, whose riches are even greater, and that the aim was to establish City among the world’s elite clubs.”

Fact: According to this ESPN Soccernet article, these new owners made last-minute bids on Dimitar Berbatov (who went to Old Trafford as expected), David Villa, Mario Gomez, and finally stole Real Madrid’s Robinho from right under the nose of Chelsea as they look to become a consistent force under Mark Hughes. Not a shabby day of bidding.

Fact: Chelsea might not be the financial powerhouse anymore, and the dynamic of the EPL has suddenly been thrown out of wack.

It’s not necessarily that the events which transpired yesterday were so complicated, but more the shock of so many drastic moves in such a short time span. Suddenly City has been changed into a certified megaclub with owners who seem ready to inject extensive amounts of money.

The first thought is that.....CHECK OUT THE LINK TO THE REST OF THIS POST.

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http://www.examiner.com/x-642-Soccer-Examiner~y2008m9d1-Transfer-shocker-as-Manchester-City-gets-Robinho Holy Crap. I guess that would sum up the day for those of you who have followed the EPL transfer sagas up to this point. Wow. Manchester United getting Dimitar Berbatov was somewhat expected, even if they did have to pay 30.7 million pounds. But the point is, they got their man and now look solid up front for the time being as they wait for Cristiano Ronaldo to get back on the field. The shocker, obviously, is Manchester City swooping in for Robinho and paying a British-record 32.5 million pounds when Chelsea appeared for weeks to have the transfer in order. We’ll get into this more tomorrow, but Manchester City was just sold to some new owners, who sprang for this move right off the bat and now have Manchester City looking dangerous on the field and downright lethal in the front office with the funds at their disposal. It appears there’s a new “Chelsea” in town, and the Blues will now have to deal with this shocking turn of events that leaves them without the marquee signing up front that was supposed to help their goal production. Here are a couple links to Guardian articles about the new City owners stirring up all this chaos: Link One, Link Two. Oh, and Manchester City will get to unveil their Brazilian superstar on Sept. 13. Who are they playing? Chelsea....priceless.......READ THE REST AT THE LINK ABOVE

While Chelsea was busy stumbling its way to a 1-1 tie against Tottenham on Sunday, Manchester City was reaping the rewards of a former Chelsea player that didn’t fit into the Blues’ plans.

The flash of light known as Shaun Wright-Phillips returned to Manchester City in braceful style with two second half goals that gave his squad a convincing 3-0 win against Sunderland.

A player with his pace is always going to be dangerous, and City now sits in a nice position with six points after their three games. Surprisingly, not one team claimed all nine points from their first three games, and Manchester United will have a chance to pull level again thanks to the slip-up from Liverpool and Chelsea.

Liverpool predictably couldn’t sustain its......

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Apparently, a lot can depend on your point of view. I arrived home from work this evening to a rather humorous contrast in headlines. First, I glanced at ESPN Soccernet to see what had happened in the previous couple of hours. Low and behold, I find myself staring at the main front package headline with a huge picture of Nemanja Vidic, Manchester Uniteds’s accomplished defender, that says: “Vidic ‘wants Spain move.’”

Somewhat shocked, I read on to find that he does not like the weather according to a recent interview. He also doesn’t like the culture, saying it’s easier to adapt to Russia than England. Thinking to myself, ‘Wow, that development is a little shocking,’ I swing on over to The Guardian’s home page to see what they have on the matter....

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