Soccer: Alex Ferguson often describes Manchester United as a bus that waits for nobody, but in the case of Arjen Robben he was willing to make an exception.

Ferguson had identified the 20-year-old as Ryan Giggs' long-term successor and his irritation at being gazumped by Chelsea will have been compounded by the overwhelming sense that a shift in power, if not completed just yet, is further under way than he or anyone else at Old Trafford would care to admit.

Ferguson is not alone at Manchester United in despising the feeling of inadequacy that accompanies being second best to one of their rivals. The same sentiments are shared throughout the club, from the boardroom to the dressing-room. Yet it is something to which he is becoming wearily accustomed.

For years United have glorified in being England's most powerful club, but, now that Roman Abramovich has given Chelsea the capacity to outspend anyone in Europe and the Premiership title is all but Arsenal's, there is a growing acceptance within Old Trafford that they can no longer be considered an autonomic force.

Such is United's talent for thriving in adversity that it would be unwise for either Chelsea or Arsenal to speak too confidently just yet about a new order to English football, as Arsene Wenger did before Ferguson's team won the title last season.

Yet Arsenal can confidently claim to boast the Premiership's outstanding team right now, and Chelsea's hijacking of the Robben deal was accompanied by a brutal sense of schadenfreude at a stage of the season when, barring a late run that their recent form scarcely suggests, Ferguson's review of the 2003-04 campaign threatens to be as melancholic as the Queen's annus horribilis speech of 1992.

As well as erratic performances and obvious irritants, such as the Rio Ferdinand affair and his legal dispute with John Magnier, Ferguson may have to accept this has been a season where Arsenal have overtaken them on the field and Chelsea have disappeared into the distance in terms of financial power.

In the case of Robben it will be of little consolation to Ferguson that Chelsea's chief executive, Peter Kenyon, has opened himself to allegations of paying an exorbitant price. Kenyon faced similar accusations at Old Trafford when he signed the likes of Juan Sebastian Veron, Ferdinand and Cristiano Ronaldo, but such is Abramovich's wealth that paying £12 million for a Holland international, compared with the £8.5 million offered by United, will have felt as inconsequential to the Russian as buying a ciabatta for lunch rather than a bread roll would to the man in the street.

Under Ferguson's orders nobody at Old Trafford was willing to discuss Robben's transfer to Stamford Bridge in detail, other than a spokesman stating that "PSV Eindhoven's valuation was different to ours".

What is clear, though, is that Ferguson was convinced he had won him over after inviting him for a personal tour of the club and giving Robben VIP treatment for the home game against Fulham in late October.

It does not need confirming either that there is a sense of unease bordering on paranoia among United's plc directors about the role that Kenyon, once seen as one of their own, will play in the Chelsea revolution and, specifically, how he will use his inside knowledge of Old Trafford's finances and boardroom politics to his advantage.

Robben's is the first transfer that Kenyon has overseen after severing his ties with United in September and subsequently being forced to take four months' "gardening leave", and it will be seen as an audacious coup for him and a significant setback for his successor, David Gill.

PSV have a reputation for producing and nurturing some of Holland's best players, but their president, Harry van Raaij, has publicly fallen out with Ferguson, having accused him of persistently using underhand tactics to sign their best players.

Acutely aware of this, Kenyon has been working behind the scenes to form a long-term strategic agreement with the Dutch club whereby, as one example, Abramovich helped to bankroll the £7 million signing of Alex, the 21-year-old Brazilian defender, from Santos, who will stay in the Netherlands until 2006 before moving to Stamford Bridge.

"I've always been able to do good business with Peter Kenyon," said Van Raaij. "He is trustworthy and a man of honour who doesn't go back on his word, which is something Manchester United have done."

In terms of prestige and support United can at least claim the high ground, and their rich history still makes them probably the most attractive club to join in Britain.

Abramovich, however, has now spent £134 million on 13 players in seven months and, set against that, United must feel quite ordinary.