Real Madrid's move to sign Cristiano Ronaldo will trigger a summer of frenzied transfer activity in the Barclays Premier League as Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City compete for the small number of world-class players available.

David Villa, Franck Ribéry and Karim Benzema are likely to move on from Valencia, Bayern Munich and Lyons respectively this summer, with the £80million United that will receive from the sale of Ronaldo set to send their transfer values spiralling higher.

Real are also pursuing the signatures of Villa and Ribéry as part of the unprecedented programme of squad-building pioneered by Florentino Pérez, their returning president, and while not even the Spanish club would offer more than the £80million that they are willing to pay for Ronaldo, other transfer records could tumble closer to home.

The summer of 2004 was the highest-spending transfer window, helped by Roman Abramovich's willingness to give José Mourinho £87million to spend on players, but with Chelsea, United and City chasing similar players, a new benchmark is likely to be set despite the global recession.

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Ronaldo fell in love with himself at first sight and it is a passion to which he has always remained faithful

Simon Barnes

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Thus far, Chelsea have lost out most as a result of Real's re-emergence under Pérez, Kaká having rejected the opportunity to follow Carlo Ancelotti to Stamford Bridge by completing a £56million move to the Bernabéu this week, Villa, the striker, is likely to do the same because of his desire to stay in Spain and the West London club could suffer further because their Premier League rivals are suddenly flush with cash.

United will receive the £80million fee in four instalments rather than up front this summer, but will still have enough money to blow Chelsea out of the water should they wish.

In addition to Antonio Valencia, the Ecuador winger, who is likely to join United from Wigan Athletic for about £17million, Ribéry is an obvious target, which would frustrate Chelsea, who are competing with Real for his signature. Bayern are demanding a fee of £64million for the France winger, which even United would be reluctant to pay.

Chelsea are unwilling to go above £40million and risk losing out on their primary target again, ten months after being beaten by City to the signature of Robinho, the Brazil forward. City could be one of the beneficiaries of Ronaldo's move, with Real's interest in Carlos Tévez cooling and United still unwilling to pay the £25million required to sign the Argentina striker on a permanent basis, leaving the path clear for him to move to the City of Manchester Stadium.

United's new riches could also create problems for Liverpool, because David Silva is another player whose situation is being monitored at Old Trafford. Liverpool were hoping that Rafael Benítez's relationship with the Spain winger - and the draw of playing with Fernando Torres - would be enough to lure Silva to Anfield, but such ties will mean nothing if Valencia are able to find a club willing to pay a higher fee.

The Real ripple effect will be felt all over Europe, with those clubs who have sold them players eager to rebuild and others keen to cash in. AC Milan, for example, will use part of the fee that they received for Kaká, the Brazil forward,

to make a renewed attempt to sign Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal after failing last summer, which in turn would provide Arsène Wenger with the money that he needs to bolster his defence. Adebayor has been told that he can leave because Wenger needs to boost his £15million transfer kitty, so Milan's sudden inheritance is timely.

Among all this record spending, there will also be bargains to be had for shrewd managers such as Wenger, because Real need to trim their squad to make room for the second wave of galácticos. The Dutch quartet of Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Ruud van Nistelrooy will be available for knockdown prices and it would be a surprise if several of them did not end up in the Premier League.