One firm, astonishingly, make them just 22-1 to claim both the Champions’ League and Premiership crowns.In the directors’ box, Abramovich, rising from his seat like Kruschev surveying his army from the Kremlin, acclaims a squad who are daily becoming less like their epithet the “Pensioners” and increasingly the “Predictables”.Yet already there is evidence of fissures, rumbles, within the foundations. Not quite a case of the comrades revolting, but signs to concern Ranieri. It should surprise no one that the principal source of that displeasure are the British Isles-based players. Nine games in both competitions, including yesterday’s 5-0 rout of Wolves Eight victories One draw. In their first Champions’ League group game for two-and-a-half years, a comfortable, albeit belatedly secured, victory in Prague.Claudio Ranieri’s men are not just short favourites to win their group but are now shorter than Arsenal, in the eyes of the odds-compilers, a necessarily astute brotherhood, to claim the title. New Labour in disarray in Brent East; New Chelsea ahead in the Champions’ League polls as London’s football power-base begins a swing away from Islington South. It was not just the status quo of politics in the capital that underwent something of an assault last week.

Steve proved how valuable he will be in our 4-1 win against Aston Villa, and his arrival shows just how serious this club are about challenging for top honours.”. He was spot-on.”He also believes that Keegan was right to buy McManaman from Real Madrid on deadline day “What a great signing. “The coach knew that we needed to defend from the front,” he says, “but we just froze and ended up losing 2-1. I know the manager had a reputation for playing top-heavy teams, but we’re a well-organised unit now. Kevin Keegan is much more astute than people think.”Sommeil points to half-time during the home match against Arsenal, when Keegan warned his players not to sit too deep and rest on their one- goal advantage.

We’re more solid, with Michael Tarnat [a free transfer from Bayern Munich] on the left and Joey Barton [a product of the club's academy] in front of the defence. “The first game is at our amazing new City of Manchester Stadium, so we’ll be looking to get a solid start,” explains Sommeil, who only found out City had qualified through the Fair Play League when he got a call from his brother while on holiday this summer. “They may not be a big name, but I know from my bad experiences with Bordeaux [where he lost to Anderlecht two seasons ago] that Belgian teams are well organised.”So, too, are Keegan’s men these days. “That’s true,” says Sommeil, who still harbours ambitions of representing his country at full senior level, having won the military World Cup alongside Olivier Dacourt and Didier Domi, “and that owes a lot to the fact that we play in a 4-4-2 formation this year. Obviously it is very different to France, but I love the lifestyle. We train from 11am until two in the afternoon, which leaves me plenty of time to be with my wife and daughter, or pop into town. And from a sporting point of view, I am in the best league in the world with a club who are going places.”Belgium will be the first port of call for City, as they embark on their Uefa Cup voyage with a two-legged tie against Lokeren.

It just feels right.”Every aspect of Sommeil’s integration has been straightforward. “On paper, this was hardly the most logical place for me to come to,” says the Guadeloupe-born 29-year-old, “but the club and city offer me everything I could wish for. “I don’t know why, but Sylvain and I communicate in English during games. Some people say that tight defending is boring, but I think it’s the opposite, because the better you defend the more you can attack.”Sommeil and Distin complement each other perfectly. The former stands at 5ft 11in and prefers to sit back, while the latter measures a towering 6ft 4in and likes galloping forward. “We’re well suited,” Sommeil says, “and we seem to have a good understanding.” So much so they are talking the same language on the pitch, and it’s not French.