Man City signs Robinho for record fee

Manchester City have beaten Chelsea to the signing of Brazilian forward Robinho from Real Madrid for a British record transfer fee of about £32.5m.

Chelsea had been chasing the 24-year-old but City have captured him on a four-year deal with a late bid.

"I am absolutely delighted to get the opportunity to work with such an incredible talent like Robinho," City boss Mark Hughes told the club website.

"This is a real statement of intent as to the ambitions of this club."

After missing out on Robinho Chelsea issued a statement saying they were unable to agree a deal with Real as they were not prepared to pay the Spanish club's asking price.

City made the audacious attempt to sign Robinho on transfer deadline day after earlier agreeing to a takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group.

Hughes added: "I have said that in order to compete with the best teams in the Premier League we have to be in the market for players of this calibre, and Robinho is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world.

LONDON (AFP) - Manchester United beat the transfer deadline to complete a 30.75 million pounds (37.7 million euros) deal for Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov on Tuesday.

Berbatov, 27, agreed a four-year contract with United and Tottenham confirmed the deal on their website 45 minutes after the transfer window shut.

Manchester City had tried to lure Berbatov to Eastlands after having an offer accepted for the Bulgarian, but he opted to join the European champions following talks with United manager Sir Alex Ferguson at the club's Carrington training ground.