As all City fans will be fully aware, the papers are full of utter nonsense (that isn't just limited to sport) and generally when it comes to transfers you can pretty much disregard anything they claim, especially when it's related to City. One of the least reliable sources of transfer news is probably the Star, so why am I covering a story from that wonderful newspaper this afternoon? The simple answer is because if their claims are true we will be onto a great signing.
The paper claim that Mancini is returning from Abu Dhabi after discussing Summer expenditure. As has already been reported there won't be a huge influx of players during this window and money will be carefully monitored, the reports however suggest that the 2 players who will join the ranks will be Udinese winger Alexis Sanchez and Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen. It is thought that it would cost the club £30million to secure Sanchez and a further £10million for the Belgian defender.
Sanchez has been a real star performer in Serie A this season and he has drawn plaudits from across Europe for a while. City will face stiff competition for the players signature, and in all likelihood I think it will cost more than the £30million quoted, Udinese have already rejected a bid in that region from an unnamed club, there is also strong interest from Inter Milan who have made their desire for the player public knowledge so it could be a complicated deal.
He is in my opinion just the sort of player that we could do with, he is predominantly used on the wing and his excellent dribbling ability and electric pace would be a real asset. Other than the soon to be departing SWP we don't really have a player who has the ability to beat a man using just speed and acceleration and at times I think it has been something we have desperately needed. It is also worth noting that he is a goal scorer as well managing to notch up 12 goals in 27 appearances helping Udinese to a fine finish in Serie A.
The deal is probably less certain than the Star are making out, but it is clearly one that would be exciting, if we are only to bring in a couple of players this Summer I think a winger should definitely be one of the players we are looking at.
Roberto's second target according to the Star is defender Jan Vertonghen, someone again who has a bright future ahead of him. The Ajax man has also been linked to Manchester United and Arsenal, but Mancini was present to watch him in person in the Dutch cup final recently, the paper also reports that the manager spoke to him personally after the game, supposedly this automatically means we are in pole position for his signature.
Whilst the potential signing of Sanchez makes perfect sense to me, the signing of Vertoghen I find slightly less understandable. If Toure had been handed a longer ban, then we would be in need of another defender, but the Ivorian will be available again in September, and with a resurgent Joleon Lescott, and a brilliant Vincent Kompany I am not sure whether there is the need to spend £10million on another defender, especially with Dedryck Boyata looking a good prospect in need of games.
I don't mean to take anything away from the Belgian it just isn't a target that particularly appeals to me, a good player, but somewhat unnecessary in a transfer window where we are supposed to be curbing our spending.
Clearly there is also going to be a mass exodus this Summer as well, this £40million expenditure can be evened out by sales claim the Star. The list of players heading for the exit door is long, Jo, Emmanuel Adebayor, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Craig Bellamy, Roque Santa-Cruz, Nedum Onuoha and Wayne Bridge will all be moved on, with the newspaper claiming these sales could bring in £40million to cover any expenses.
That figure seems a bit high to me, but I think it would not be unreasonable to say we might be able to scrape together around £25million from the sale of all those.
To be fair to the Star they aren't claiming that either of the players are nailed on, and they aren't exactly new names in the frame. The acquisition of Sanchez would really not surprise me, but Vertonghen, I may need some convincing.
No comments:
Post a Comment