MANCHESTER CITY’S Middle Eastern owners are ready to spend more than a billion dollars (£610m) on transfer fees and wage commitments in their first year in control. The expenditure will be the biggest one-year spend on new players by any sports club in the world.

City are also prepared to saddle themselves with the largest annual wage bill for a first-team squad in English football history, reaching £120m-plus if they sign all their top targets this summer.

The combined transfer fees of the 14 players signed by the manager, Mark Hughes, since the Abu Dhabi United Group arrived at Eastlands last summer, plus the potential outlay in wages over the lengths of those players’ contracts, already amount to £455m. That is certain to increase, perhaps by as much as £200m, within weeks.

City’s chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, has said the club will buy up to six players this summer. With Gareth Barry, Roque Santa Cruz, Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez signed, City’s wish list comprises the defenders John Terry and Joleon Lescott. They could cost between £20m and £40m each, plus £20m to £75m per man in wage commitments. If City fail to sign them, other high-class players will be considered.

City’s spending should comfortably outstrip the spree under way at Real Madrid, which has included the capture of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. The Spanish giants are expected to spend about £500m between this summer and next on players and wages. The previous one-year spending record in English football was by Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea in the Russian’s first year in charge between July 2003 and June 2004.

The biggest wage bill recorded so far in English football was Chelsea’s for 2007-08. The headline figure was £172m but after deductions for managerial payoffs (£23m) and non-first-team staff (about £30m), the first-team squad bill was £119m. City’s wage bill is about £101m and can be expected to rise above £120m with more expensive signings imminent.

1 Manchester City 08/08 to 07/09

Top three signings
Robinho fee £32.5m, wages £41.6m, total £74.1m
Carlos Tevez £25m, £39m, £64m
Roque Santa Cruz £17.5m, £20.8m, £38.3m
Spending so far £455m
Projected £600m-plus

2 Chelsea 07/03 to 06/04
Hernan Crespo £16.8m, £18.7m, £35.5m
Damien Duff £17m, £18.2m, £35.2m
Juan Veron £15m, £18.7m, £33.7m
Spending £400m

3 Real Madrid 06/09 to 05/10
Cristiano Ronaldo £80m, £110m, £190m
Kaka £56m, £60m, £116m
Karim Benzema £30m, £40m, £70m
Spending so far £376m