Nouveau riche club treats its employees with some lavish bling

To thank Carlos Tevez for all his hard work and dedication to Manchester City over the past three or four days, the clubs grotesque generous owners have rewarded him with a limited edition Franck Muller watch, worth a mere £168,000.

The wet dog-alike wasn’t the only one to get the star treatment though - the entire City team were presented with the luxury timepiece while visiting Sheikh Mansour in Abu Dhabi yesterday. The squad were reportedly “treated like royalty” during an aptly-named royal reception at the Sheikh’s palace, after which they checked in at the rather swanky Emirates Palace Hotel.

The Franck Muller watches are a very grand gesture, but one that is fatally flawed: Premier League footballers who are renowned for their tendency to constantly out-do one another in terms of cars, women and jewellery are hardly going to be happy about wearing exactly the same watch as everyone else on their team.

Manchester Utd star starts collecting luxury watches

At a time when keeping vast sums of money in a bank account is a relatively fruitless endeavour, the Premier League’s wealthiest are looking for new ways to invest their assets.

Cristiano Ronaldo has spent some of his cash well (his Robbie Fowler-esquer property investment) and some rather poorly (the legions of prostitutes, sports cars that he manages to write off in tunnels), but according to The Sun, his latest money making scheme involves watches. The Manchester Utd star reportedly owns several luxury timepieces, including a £70,000 Franck Muller design, and will invest in various other brands that promise to increase in value.

Spoiler cynicism alert: Cristiano Ronaldo announces an interest in collecting luxury watches in the same season that luxury Swiss watch manufacturer Hublot sign a £4m sponsorship deal with Manchester Utd. How very coincidental.