City snatch supremacy from United

When you have waited 44 long and frequently traumatic years to win the league title - a lifetime that encompasses a spell in the depths of the third tier - six days hardly represent an eternity. And six little days are surely all that now separate Manchester City from being crowned champions again.

Though Sir Alex Ferguson took to the microphone following Manchester United's final game of the season at Old Trafford to exhort supporters to retain some belief in the possibility that "next week there will be the biggest celebration of our lives", a more pragmatic attitude had been on display prior to a 2-0 win over Swansea.

When asked whether a victory at Newcastle meant City had one hand on the trophy, he replied, with a wry smile: "probably two."

With a goal difference eight superior to United's with one game remaining, City must only equal the result of Ferguson's side away at Sunderland when QPR visit the Etihad Stadium next Sunday to win the Premier League.

Having dropped just two points at home all season, City are fully expected to win against a club managed by their former boss Mark Hughes to ensure their coronation and complete a process, overseen by Sheikh Mansour, that chewed up the Welshman and spat him out when he was sacked in order to recruit Mancini back in December 2009.

Implementing the coup d'etat, former chief executive Garry Cook - sorely missed by Early Doors and other fans of satire, if not easily embarrassed City fans - explained the club were not on the right "trajectory" under Hughes. Now the QPR boss will have a front row seat to see City, in all likelihood, complete their remarkable rise to the top of English football.

And if Sunday's victory at St James' Park does prove to have been the last significant barrier to City in their attempts to usurp United, then it will be fitting indeed that Yaya Toure was the man to help them gallop over it.

The Ivorian was the catalyst for City's success in ending their 35-year trophy drought in the FA Cup last season and has risen to the fore perfectly at the conclusion of this league campaign too, producing a towering performance in a critical win over United last Monday and then seeing off Newcastle with two goals of the highest order on Sunday.

But aside from embodying the winning mentality that has started to infuse itself in this City side, a characteristic largely absent from the club over the past four decades, Toure also embodies something else about City: their financial muscle, the unprecedented expenditure that has underpinned their rise.

Lest we forget, Toure was lured to the club from Barcelona in 2010, a fee of £24 million and a weekly wage packet of around £200,000 combining for a deal worth in the region of £80m in total. It made Toure the highest paid player in English football history.

Pertinently for the point ED is trying to make, it is also a deal that United, hamstrung by the money leaking out of Old Trafford to finance their Glazer-imposed debt, could not have considered making.

Over the past few seasons, the only £80m deal United have been involved in saw them lose Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. That is the stark reality of the impact Glazernomics has at at Old Trafford.

This is not just a facile comparison between two evenly matched figures: it speaks volumes as to why City are now so close to knocking United off their perch. Where is United's Toure? Where, indeed, has that Ronaldo money gone?

Having memorably described City as the "noisy neighbours", Ferguson and United now find themselves unable to keep up with the Joneses.

Though Ferguson will not admit it publicly, it is only through the application of his own genius that United have remained so competitive at a time when sport's richest club must use a good portion of their income to essentially pay for the dubious honour of having the name of the Glazer family above the door.

This is one of the weakest United sides seen in the Premier League, a squad stymied by (relative) underinvestment, yet at one stage they were on course to set a new points record before tailing off. Such is Ferguson's enduring influence.

Apologists of the Glazers point to the sums spent on Phil Jones (£16.5m), David de Gea (£18.9m) and Ashley Young (£17m) last summer as evidence that rather than leeching the life out of the club the absentee American owners are instead more than prepared to inject fresh blood.

As detailed in the Guardian on Saturday, though, United's net spend of £51.6m over the past five years is below that of not only City (£418.9m), but also Chelsea (£155.9m), Liverpool (£83.3m), Sunderland (£69.2m), Aston Villa (£68.4m), Tottenham (£66.7m) and even Stoke (£59.7m).

ED is something of an idealist when it comes to football, albeit a cynical one, and doesn't like to accept the notion that money alone generates success. However, there is clearly a strong correlation between the two and in that sense at least City's ascent has been fully anticipated. As has United's gradual decline.

Though until now the Glazers have bucked the trend somewhat by enjoying sustained success despite imposing restrictive limits on United's spending, this has largely been due to the pre-existing quality of players like Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand and the mind of the manager - resources they will not be able to tap indefinitely.

Indeed, when United did have a pressing need for a new creative influence in midfield, their response was to bring Scholes out of retirement rather than fork out for a new player. He has been exemplary since his return of course, but while the move did not reek of desperation, as Patrick Vieira suggested, it did have a sniff of stinginess about it.

While the introduction of UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations will inhibit the extent to which City are able to continue their extensive spending, they are still in a far stronger position to recruit football's biggest names than United are.

The next Yaya Toure will be wearing blue not red if he moves to Manchester and in that sense it is hardly a stretch to imagine City accelerating away from their rivals in the next couple of years.

Replacing United as Manchester's pre-eminent force would have seemed a laughable suggestion when City found themselves in the third tier and their rivals were winning the Champions League in 1999, yet ultimately the Glazers' ruinous legacy could be to hand over the crown and the city of Manchester to the ebullient, affluent noisy neighbours down the road.

In just six days' time, unless something truly spectacular happens, that previously unthinkable scenario will be realised.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Mark knows his job. He was sacked by City in a very unethical way and he will remember that. Mark Hughes's teams always fight but QPR players are fighting for survival. The whole future of the club could be resting on the game and I only wish Sparky was playing." - Sir Alex Ferguson ensures his former player's mind is firmly trained on beating City at the Etihad Stadium next weekend.

FOREIGN VIEW: Juventus last night won their 28th Italian league title as their victory against Cagliari, coupled with Milan's derby defeat to Inter, gave them an unassailable lead with one game remaining in Serie A this season. If Juventus win or draw against Atalanta next weekend then they will become the first Italian side to go the season unbeaten since Milan in 1991-92. Furthermore, they also have a Coppa Italia final against Napoli to look forward to, meaning they could clinch an unbeaten double. Take that, Milan.

COMING UP: A huge game takes place at the bottom of the table tonight as Blackburn Rovers host Wigan Athletic. Steve Kean's side must win both of their remaining two games if they are to have any chance of staying up, and even then they will have to rely on other teams slipping up. Wigan are in 17th but a victory at Ewood Park will secure their Premier League status for another season.

Prior to that hot slice of Premier League action at 8pm, we also have live text commentary of the second leg of the Championship play-off semi-final between West Ham and Cardiff as the Hammers try and hold onto their two-goal advantage from the first leg in Wales.

You can also watch extended highlights from all the weekend's Premier League games right away, while we will be publishing our Team of the Week and Paul Parker's latest blog at lunch. Throw in Pitchside Europe's latest offering and what better way to spend a bank holiday?