Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he does not have "a rational answer" as to why the Abu Dhabi United Group has taken over Premier League club Manchester City in a multi-million pound deal.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan will formally become the new owner of the club on Tuesday.

The arrival of the Middle Eastern billionaire makes it the richest club in the league - taking the mantle held by Chelsea for the last five years - and also looks like changing the balance of spending power within the Premier League.

Wenger, though, said he found it a mystery why the Sheikh bought the club which has not won a major title since lifting the League Cup in 1976. It was last champion of England 40 years ago.

In an interview in the October issue of the official Arsenal magazine, Wenger says: "I don't know why these people are in there.

"It doesn't look like they are there to make any money. So if they are not there to make money out of it, then are they buying it out of love?

"Well, I am not sure these people are supporters of Manchester City from a young age.

"So then comes a further question: Why are they doing it? Why have they bought the club? I can't really find a rational answer.

"If it is just a toy for them then it is even more dangerous.

"You can have 20 billionaires in the Premier League, still only one can win it and one will come last.

"The problem is that when these people who have bought into football get tired of it, what will they leave behind? That is the real question you can ask.

"If their investment is purely strategic, based on the market interest, then they could easily decide one day that it is not strategic to be in that market any more, and then they will leave."

Manchester City has made a promising start to the new season and thumped Portsmouth 6-0 on Sunday to take fifth place in the table.

Arsenal lead the standings and Wenger, who has built a number of successful teams at the club over the last 12 years said it was not easy to buy success.

"My thoughts are that it is good to have money in football, but it's how you use it. Basically you still have to respect the rules," Wenger said.

"You can't have a situation where people just come in and say they want to buy Cristiano Ronaldo or they want to buy Fernando Torres. That is disrespectful. These players are under contract."

City signed Brazilian forward Robinho for around 32.5 million pounds ($59.95 million) at the start of September shortly after the Abu Dhabi investment company signed a memorandum of agreement about the takeover.

(Agencies via China Daily September 24, 2008)