Those who have served at City through fair weather and foul, from a third division defeat to York to tonight’s engagement against the most feted club team on earth, attest that the working ambience is the best they have known it. Having witnessed the machinations of Shinawatra, the alleged human-rights abuser who would lavish absurd salaries on such useless players as Felipe Caicedo and Nery Castillo, City’s longer-serving, battle-hardened employees recognise a charlatan when they see one. And the Abu Dhabi owners appear very far from that category. Granted, there were mis-steps, not least in their choice of Sulaiman Al-Fahim – a ‘Dubai Del Boy’ noted mainly for his fondness of Lamborghinis – but their enticement of a coveted leader like Soriano reflects a readiness to enlist the best possible candidate for each role.