CITY’S players, especially the large younger element,  have been a little overwhelmed by the grandeur of their Emirates Palace base.

The hotel, the most expensive in the world, is used to hosting monarchs and other heads of state – on Wednesday Tony Blair was a guest, while French president Nicholas Sarkozy was also there recently.

The hotel, owned by Sheikh Mansour’s family and originally built as an actual palace,  has also played host to stars like Elton John, Christina Aguilera, and Bon Jovi, who all stayed there and put on concerts in the specially-constructed auditorium in the hotel grounds.

The hotel has an entire floor of the central section which is only available for kings and presidents. Mike Summerbee was not allocated one of those rooms, much to the disbelief of City fans.

MARK Hughes has to be everything at City these days – manager, coach, mouthpiece … and diplomat.

The City boss is used to being put on the spot by ravenous English press men hunting  a story, but he had to think on his feet when confronted by the Abu Dhabi press.

“Which players will you be buying next?” was the blunt opener, neatly dodged by the manager.

“Will you be buying any of the United Arab Emirates team?” was the next one. The UAE team has not been pulling up any trees – just as well, in a desert – and drew just one of its eight World Cup qualifying group games.

Sparky didn’t hesitate: “Not at the moment, but I am sure in the future that as UAE football progresses, we will one day see someone from Abu Dhabi pulling on a City shirt.”

Next question: “When you say ‘in the future’ what do you mean?

It’s a darned good job some of Sir Alex Ferguson’s more explosive traits didn’t rub off on his former pupil.

SECURITY has been intense surrounding the game, remarkable for what is really a low-key friendly.

Passports had to be scanned and sent from England in advance, and no-one moves anywhere without the proper accreditation.

The reason became clear, as Abu Dhabi will host the Club World Cup next month, and this game is being used as a dry run for that tournament, to be screened worldwide.

Said match director Thomas Gurtner: “This is the nominated test fixture for the Club World Cup, and we are applying systems for the first time.”

CAPACITY for the game was limited to 25,000, meaning plenty of City fans struggling to get tickets, which cost around £4, or £20 for VIP areas.

The match, for which originally only the lower tier of the 45,000 capacity Zayed Sport City stadium was opened, was quickly a sell-out, leading to part of the second tier being opened, only for tickets to be quickly snapped up

AROUND 300 City fans are in Abu Dhabi for the match, and they were invited to a free barbecue in the grounds of the stunning Emirates Palace Hotel.

Expecting a few sausages and burgers, and a complimentary beer or wine, they rolled up to be met by a lavish feast, and waiter service ferrying free drinks for a couple of hours.

Say what you like about the owners, they don’t scrimp.