These are exciting days for Manchester City, says Andy Gray, but can this squad win silverware?
Egos must not stop City losing sight of premier aim, says Andy
Plenty of clubs have tried to short-circuit their way to the top over the years.
Real Madrid have attempted to buy European success in recent seasons only to stutter at the last-16 stage, while going further back we've seen David O'Leary and Kevin Keegan (to name but two) try to buy success at Leeds and Newcastle respectively.
In fact I can think of plenty of teams who have spent vast amounts of money relative to the year they were playing in only to fall short of silverware. Success is far from guaranteed for Manchester City, no matter how phenomenal their spending has become.
According to The Times, owner Sheikh Mansour has spent £355m on transfers and a further £488m is ear-marked for wages. Factor in how much it cost him to buy the club and you don't get much change out of one billion pounds.
On Monday, we'll get an insight into how wisely that money has been spent when City entertain Liverpool - two sides who drew their opening Premier League fixtures.
We weren't treated to a classic opening weekend but the first 10 games did at least produce 10 more goals than we witnessed in the first 10 World Cup matches and some great stories - Blackpool's victory in particular.
Talent
City have done the first part well enough, in my view; they've amassed a collection of very good individual talent - no-one could argue with that - and I'd be pretty surprised if Roberto Mancini made any more signings before the end of August.
Despite the wealth at the club's disposal, it was unrealistic to expect what some people like to call football's megastars - the likes of Lionel Messi, David Villa or Wayne Rooney - to join City.
Nor was it essential because the best players don't always make the best team. Mancini's task now is to mould an impressive array of talent into a potent unit; James Milner's arrival could be crucial to that aim.
Milner brings a great work ethic with him, which is important because there are a lot of big egos at City; he might just be the one to keep them level-headed. It's essential that the club as a whole does not lose track of what they are trying to achieve.
A very, very sound attitude is one of Milner's biggest strengths - as his professional performance for Villa testified last week - and I'm backing him to do well
I honestly don't know what we are going to see from Mario Balotelli, however. Are we going to get someone who works as hard as Milner and guts it out or a player who is going to enjoy the money and lifestyle and play occasionally?
He's certainly rated as one of the players of the future but there are big question marks over him as far as I'm concerned at present; the fact that Mancini has coached Balotelli before, at Inter in 2007, could well be significant in the answer.
If he puts in the effort and his mind is right then he could be a big star in this country.
Debts
City obviously think they won't miss Craig Bellamy this season and Cardiff have taken full advantage.
City seem to be looking towards a younger squad now; Craig is in his thirties, he's had trouble with his fitness and wasn't always available last season.
Put it this way - I don't think they've destroyed their top-four chances by letting Bellamy go!
In an ideal world, Cardiff would have cleared their debts and satisfied their creditors first before getting involved in a deal that looks as though it is going to cost them £40k a week.
On the other hand, Cardiff have made a footballing decision. They've said 'can we get Craig Bellamy? Yes, we can'.
Obviously they think they can afford to pay for him otherwise the deal would not have been sanctioned and the aim is to win promotion the Premier League where they can earn money they can use to pay their creditors. You can look at it both ways - unless you're the ones owed.
Robinho is another player who looks like he's one his way out of Eastlands which, in a way, is a shame because we've only seen glimpses of what he's capable of.
But City got what they should have expected out of him - after all, this was a guy who was substituted more times than any other player at Real Madrid.
He has undoubted talent but is not as mentally strong as the Messis of this world, or the Ronaldos or the Rooneys.
I think City will happily see Robinho go if they can get close to £24m for him. In fact, I think they'll snatch the hand off whoever offers that.
Losses
It appears that Alberto Aquilani could also be leaving the Premier League.
Signing the Italian could well have been the beginning of the end for Rafael Benitez's tenure at Liverpool because it's hard to see it as anything but a strange, strange purchase.
Benitez forked out £20m on a player who had spent the previous three seasons injured and had hardly played in Serie A as a result.
That might have been the straw that broke the camel's back, in many ways, for a lot of people at Liverpool with Benitez. It was a poor decision.
If Liverpool can cut their losses and get somebody in, in his place, then I think they should because I don't think Aquilani is ever going to have a huge role to play at Anfield.
Liverpool's defence - much like City's actually - looks to be working very well; it came across as well-drilled, solid and organised against Arsenal.
For that reason I think both sides will find it tough to make a breakthrough on Monday but I've just got this feeling home advantage might tell; perhaps Milner or Balotelli can even pay back a slice of the small fortune City have invested in them.
