Anyone who doubts the balance of power is shifting in European football should examine the recent history of Aberdeen’s Europa League opponents Kairat Almaty.
The landscape has changed.
Premier League clubs in England have become the baubles of international billionaires – be it the Glazer family from America at Manchester United, Russian Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and Sheik Mansour from the United Arab Emirates at Manchester City.
The spending does not stop on these shores, however.
Kazakh club Kairat is one of several teams to be reaping the rewards of the substantial investment from billionaire oligarchs from the former Soviet Union and owner Kairat Boranbayev has ambitious plans for his club.
The oil and gas tycoon is the driving force behind the club and its ambitious plans which reach far beyond domestic success.
Earlier this month Kairat announced the signing of Ukraine captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk from Zenit St Petersburg.
Few would dispute, at the age of 36, Tymoshchuk’s best years are gone.
But even in his dotage, Tymoschchuk had his pick of moving to the United States to play in the MLS with New York City or any number of lucrative options in the Middle East.
There were even suggestions he would return to the Ukraine to play for another former foe of the Dons in Dnipro, who reached the final of the Europa League last season before losing to Spanish La Liga side Sevilla.
Kairat got their man, a signing which spoke volumes, not just of the club’s ambition, but its financial clout.
Tymoshchuk, a former Champions League winner in 2013 with Bayern Munich and Europa League winner with Zenit in 2008, hailed the club’s ambition and vision as the reason for his decision to join on an 18-month deal.
He is the leader of the side and a very public on-field signal of intent from billionaire Boranbayev.
Investment in European football from businessmen from the former Soviet Union has been a growing trend in the last 20 years from the high profile Abramovich and his transformation of Chelsea to Alisher Usmanov, who holds a 15% stake in Arsenal.
Add in Dmitry Bybovlev at Monaco, Rinal Akhmetov at Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk and Suleyman Kerimov at Anzhi Makhachkala from Dagestan.
What do these men have in common? A level of wealth so great it would be a near impossible task trying to spend it all.
Boranbayev is a man with grand designs for his country as well as his club.
He is also the man behind McDonald’s move to the Central Asian state and has proudly opened the first of many fast food restaurants into the country in 2015.
His daughter Alima is married to Aisultan Nazarbayev, the grandson of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose wedding celebrations in 2013 were graced by the American singer Kanye West, who was reportedly paid £2million to perform at the reception.
Boranbayev clearly has a taste for lavish celebrations and in September last year he reportedly paid the American singer Nicole Scherzinger, one-time romantic interest of Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton, more than £100,000 to perform at his private birthday party in London.
Football has become his latest passion and like his contemporaries, clearly he feels there is no better way to while away the hours than investing in a football club and making it a European football superpower.
Make no mistake, the 48-year-old has the means to do it.
Boranbayev is the former general director of Kazakh gas company KazRosGas who has devoted his time to the club since resigning from the business last year.
His former company sponsors his club and is a subsidiary of Russian gas conglomerate Gazprom, which, as it happens, owns Tymosh-chuk’s former club Zenit.
Tymoshchuk could soon have another former Zenit team-mate for company at Kairat if recent reports are to be believed with Russian international forward Aleksandr Kerzhakov being touted for a move to the club.
Kairat is a small club with big ideas and with Boranbayev bankrolling the project, the sky is the limit.
They have only won the league title once in the last 22 years, but with Slovakian manager Vladimir Weiss’ side currently leading the Premier League, it is clear all is about to change.
The club is changing, transforming and modernising. It owns its own £15million academy and has former Feyenoord and Shakhtar Dontesk youth coach, Dutchman Patrick van Leeuwen, as its sporting director.
Boranbayev is a man used to getting what he wants. Victory against Aberdeen and eventual progression to the group stages of the Europa League would be the latest step in his plan to make Kairat a global player in world football.