Who's Staying? The Striking Conundrum!

Clearly all City fans are focused on one thing this week, and that is the title showdown on Sunday afternoon.  Personally I have spent most of my time thinking about it, my mood veering between supreme confidence and sheer terror as every hour passes.   I am pretty sure everything that could be written about the game has already been done so, and for that reason I am looking at something all together different today.


As the season draws to a close the transfer rumour mill has been going into over drive, and it seems that one of the positions we will strengthen is up front, and for me, that is a bit of a strange notion.  Goals have hardly been hard to come by, and it must surely mean that one or perhaps two of our strikers are on the way out, so today I will be looking at the relative merits of each, and trying to identify which, if any are surplus to requirements and can be improved upon.


Mario Balotelli - 31 Appearances 17 Goals.


To say that the Italian has been at the centre of a few media storms this season would be an understatement.  It has definitely been a year of highs and lows for the 21 year old, and generally it has been an upward trend in terms of behaviour and performance.  Last year he managed 10 goals in 28 games and so clearly he has been more productive in front of goal and there has been indications of an improved work rate as well, that is not to say that all has been positive.  There have still been indiscretions and although he has risen to the bait less often he has still been riled and picked up a few needless red cards.  He played an important part through the Winter months and scored some vital goals, but sadly his efficiency has wained.  There have been other issues as well, City quite simply don't seem as effective when 'Mad Mario' is on the pitch, it is worth noting that the poor spell that Aguero suffered in front of goal coincided with Balo's run in the team.


Season High - 2 goals at Old Trafford, why always him?
Season Low - Dismissal at the Emirates and his resulting dropping from the team.
Chances of Staying - 7/10 - Mancini likes him, and he has been unplayable at times.  There have been signs of improvement this year over last so for that reason he might get one more chance, but should a decent offer come in, we might be tempted to sell.


John Guidetti - 23 Appearances 20 Goals (on loan at Feyenoord)

It looked like the Swedish international was on the way out last Summer, but the promise of a full season out on loan at a top club convinced him to stay, but now we have a guaranteed goal scorer returning to us and he is hungry for games.  Guidetti is an interesting player, I saw him at reserve level numerous times and was never convinced he had enough in his locker to make it at a top club, but his scoring record in Holland is pretty frightening.  One thing to consider is that he has scored a few penalties in that 20, but considering his young age it has undeniably been a highly successful season for the forward.  He is now saying that he will only return to City if he is guaranteed games, and some have suggested he is already too big for his boots.  Whilst he has been impressive, goals in Holland don't always translate to Premier League success, see Samaras, Kezman and Alfonso Alves.


Season High - Scoring 3 hat tricks in successive games
Season Low - Receiving a second yellow  for removing his shirt after scoring a 2nd goal, only for the opposition to immediately equalise.
Chances of Staying - 5/10 - Could go either way really.  The club like to encourage youth, but if he can't be guaranteed game time he could be on his way.


Sergio Aguero - 45 Appearances 29 Goals

It seems crazy now that some pundits suggested that Aguero would struggle in his first season in the Premier League.  Charlie Nicholas went as far as to say he could be the flop of the season, stating that £38million was 'not value for money', right from his first appearance, these fears have been well and truly banished.  The Argentine has been the focal point of our attack line and he will remain the lynch pin for a long time hopefully.  There have been spells where has struggled, these coinciding with Mario Balotelli having a run in the team, but other than that he has scored goals at regular intervals.  One of the most refreshing things about the 23 year old is that he has the right attitude, something that many of the worlds top players do not possess.  His partnership with Edin Dzeko towards the start of the season was extremely fruitful, and now that the Bosnian has been more or less sidelined, he is working well with his compatriot Tevez, identifying the correct partner for Kun is vital and I can only see him continuing to improve.  I just wish he would shoot from distance more often, since when he does, the ball usually ends up in the back of the net!


Season High - That goal at Norwich was an absolute stunner.
Season Low - Nope, can't think of one.
Chances of Staying - 9/10 - There were reports linking him with a move to Real, but to me those seem wide of the mark, he seems happy, his family seem happy and we have no reason to sell!


Edin Dzeko - 39 Appearances 19 Goals

It seems crazy to me that a striker who has notched up 19 goals could be criticised, but that is just how some City fans are.  To be fair the giant Bosnian can frustrate, at times he looks poor, very poor, his touch can let him down, he can look sluggish and sadly disinterested.  At other times however he looks like someone that could be a prolific goalscorer in any league, and at the start of the season that is just how he appeared.  To say that he divides opinion would be an understatement, but one thing that I don't think anyone could question is the fact that the 26 year old is clearly a confidence player.  When he has a run of games he looks twice as effective, even more so when the goals are flowing, but when he comes in and out of the team he struggles somewhat.  Personally I am a fan and think that if we had some decent wingers and provided him with better service he would prosper and become a really strong 'plan b', but I don't deny that at times he does struggle in our set up, Dzeko is a player that comes alive in the penalty area, having to come deep to pick up the ball (which is our bread and butter) isn't really playing to his strengths.


Season High - Scoring 4 at White Hart Lane, his 4th goal was a season highlight.
Season Low - Getting stroppy when substituted in Munich.
Chances of Staying - 3/10 - Personally I would like him to remain, but I just don't see it, he wants to be playing regularly and I can't see that happening at City under the leadership of Mancini.


Carlos Tevez - 10 Appearances 4 Goals

Where to begin with this one?  I suppose the first thing to say is that I think Tevez is our best striker, I dislike him with a passion, but in terms of footballing ability I genuinely believe he is the best we have.  Does that mean he deserves to stay though?  As far as I am concerned, not a chance.  Some may be quick to forgive him for that night in Munich, but that is something I can't bring myself to do.  If that was his only discretion then maybe, but the bottom line is that his actions that night were the latest in a string of incidents that showed no respect for the club or the people that pay his frankly obscene wages.  The undeniable truth though is that he has got us out of somewhat of a hole, his return to the team has coincided with an upturn in performances and I don't think the 2 are unrelated.  His work rate since his 'holiday' are just as high as ever, and he is performing well, but how long will it last?  The cynic in me thinks he only returned on the promise of a quick sale this Summer, but the words coming from player and club suggest different.  I just hope the man that has the final say on the future of Tevez is Roberto Mancini and not the power brokers in Abu Dhabi.


Season High - His hat-trick at Carrow Road was the day he was welcomed back into the hearts of (most) City fans.
Season Low - His refusal to play/warm up in Munich will forever blight him.
Chances of Staying - 6/10 - Part of me believes his return was to bring about a move this Summer, it was beneficial to both parties, but maybe he will finally realise there is nowhere better to be playing?


Emmanuel Adebayor - 35 Appearances 17 Goals (on loan at Tottenham)


The frustration with Manu is that if he consistently demonstrated the application and endeavour he shows when he first joins a club he would be a top top striker, but sadly he can't/won't do that.  Ade and Mancini have seemingly never got along, and there is simply no way back for him at Eastlands.  If we can't find a buyer, another season out on load is a near certainty.


Chances of Staying - 0/10 - There is more chance of Joey Barton signing this Summer.


Roque Santa-Cruz - 21 Appearances 5 Goals (on loan at Betis)


I always felt sorry for RSC; Mark Hughes was desperate to sign him and spent a most ridiculous sum to bring him to City, he was injured pretty much his whole time at the club and he never got going.  When he did play he showed passion and commitment (unlike Adebayor), but he simply wasn't and isn't good enough for us.


Chances of Staying - 0/10 - There is more chance of Joey Barton signing and Jo returning this Summer.

That pretty much rounds off all the strikers available to us, and to be honest we have a wealth of quality options open to us; that is the reason that I am always so surprised to see us being linked with further reinforcements up front.  I think the end is nigh for Edin Dzeko sadly, as much as I would like him to remain I just can't help but feel that the writing is on the wall.  As for Carlos Tevez, well things could go either way on that, and I wouldn't like to make a further prediction on his future.  Should Dzeko leave, and should Guidetti not be deemed good enough for us next season, I suppose we could do with one more forward.  Names in the ring seem to be Robin Van Persie and Napoli man Edinson Cavani.  Personally I prefer the man from Uruguay who has notched up 32 goals this campaign, a deal would be expensive to finance, but seeing whether they would take Adebayor in return could be a good place to start.

Rumour Mill: Sunday Round Up

Sundays are about more than just roast dinners, a normally pretty tame game on Sky and falling asleep in front of La Liga at about half 9, it is also the one day of the week that the 'other' newspapers and the Sunday editions get their chance to shine and I suppose because more papers are sold on a Sunday we get the best rumours, or should that be the most ridiculous rumours.

I thought to keep on top of things, it might be an interesting idea to round up some of the City related ones each Sunday from now on just to see if any of them come to anything, so without further hesitation, so lets get on with it.

First up is something from goal.com (OK, so i'll be grabbing nonsense from around the web as well) who have got some quotes from everyone's favourite melting candle 'Arry Redknapp.  The Spurs manager is no stranger to discussing his transfer targets brazenly and when it comes to our very own Emmanuel Adebayor he is no different, the soon to be England manager spoke about the Togolese striker after his sides demolition of Wigan yesterday:

"Yes, if he keeps going like he's going. I'd love to keep him around, he's been excellent so far so let's hope he keeps it up.

"I don't know [if it will be possible]. We don't pay his wages and I think that would be the problem. God knows what he earns, I don't even know what we pay towards his wages, only the chairman would know that. I bet he's not cheap.".

I think most City fans would like to see Adebayor out of the club, and now that we have moved on I don't think many blues would mind him going to the Lane.  The problems remains however that the striker is a 6 month player, whether 'Arry will be so keen towards the end of the season remains to be seen.  On top of that do any of us believe he will be willing to cut his wage demands?  I certainly don't...

The Mail (Fail) On Sunday have gone pretty City heavy today, in fact the rest of the transfer rumours come from that very publication, and I would suggest and also hope there is nothing in any of them.  They kick off by claiming that we will be returning to our feeder club at the end of the season and move for Dutch striker Robin Van Persie, who managed to reach 100 goals for Arsenal yesterday.  The thrust of the article seems to be that with the Dutchman seemingly stalling on a new contract, his club could soon be in the same position they were in with Samir Nasri.  I would put very little credence into this one personally, the Mail are hoping for lightning to strike twice with them aiming to get the exclusive.  Nasri left to win things, and that is reasonable, but Van Persie appears to be Mr Arsenal at the moment and with them finally spending some money I highly doubt Wenger will allow his contract to run down.

Quite what it is that Ross Barkley has done to result in the media extolling him as the saviour of global football I am unsure, I must have missed something but everyone keeps telling me that he is in fact the new messiah and will make Lionel Messi look like Barry Conlon.  Obviously the tv and newspapers would never get over excited about a young player (Dean Marney, Danny Rose, Mark Noble to name just 3) and make them out to be something they quite patently aren't, who would suggest such a thing?  I am not claiming Barkley to be a bad player, I just don't know what this fuss is based on, anyway to get back on topic, the Mail reckon we are readying a £30million for the 17 year old, yes MORE than we paid for David Silva.  The youngster is highly thought of at Everton and has apparently played well for England at youth level and Bob Cass of the Mail claims we are locked in a 3 way tussle for the midfielder with Chelsea and Manchester United stating that the dire financial situation at Goodison will ensure that Moyes and co have to sell... I won't hold my breath on this one.

The final nugget of transfer gold revolves around the future of another South American wonder kid, yes, thats right, the overly cocky and generally irritating Brazilian striker Neymar is being linked with City again!  As anyone who has read my rants on here before will be fully aware I am not the biggest fan of the 19 year old.  I always defended Robinho and said that all in all his career in Manchester was not the huge let down that some people would have you believe, he scored plenty of goals and entertained and thrilled in equal measure.  Neymar on the other hand just doesn't appeal to me at all, I simply don't see him cutting it in England and if the histrionics of Robinho annoyed you, Neymar will take it to a whole other level.  The deal that the Mail claim is in the offing is for about £50million and will equal the figure that Madrid are prepared to offer.  The paper reckon that he is a player that Mancini has personally told the clubs hierarchy that he wants believing him to be the best young talents in the world, not sure I buy into that personally, he doesn't strike me as a 'Mancini player' in any way shape or form, and for that money I am sure we could get someone who won't be moaning about the English weather and going on strike within 18 months.

Finally for a none transfer story, possibly the least reliable paper in existence, The People, are suggesting that our future CEO will be none other than City legend Niall Quinn after his success at Sunderland.  As much as I would love that to happen I am not sure how realistic it is, he may have worked closely with Marwood before, but I can't help but feel our owners might be looking for more of a businessman as opposed too a football man to fill that role.  Even if they did fancy Quinn, whether he has sufficient reputation I am unsure, he may be a big name in the British game, but how good he will be at selling City to a young Kid from Costa Rica, Chile or Kenya I am unsure.

That pretty much wraps up the Sunday papers, there may be a few other things bouncing about, but I think those are the most interesting ones.  I don't see any of them coming to anything, but what the hell do I know?!?!

When Will Ade Stop Believing His Own Hype?

Other than the fact that we were better than them last year, one of the main reasons Spurs failed to qualify for the Champions League was lack a of goals, and as hard as Redknapp has tried to fix that problem, he has so far failed.


He has started the season (albeit only one league game and one Europa League game) with Jermain Defoe as his first choice striker with Dutch maestro Van der Vaart playing just off him.  The English striker only managed to net 4 league goals last season which was hardly an inspiring return, Peter Crouch wasn't much better and although Roman Pavlyuchenko scored a few goals he still doesn't seem to be thought of particularly highly around White Hart Lane.


We have all heard at great length about how they are looking to our very own Adebayor to solve his goal crisis.  As City fans we know that on paper it would be a great signing for them, but in reality it would probably be a spectacular failure.  Adebayor will score goals for them, but only when he is in the mood, he is almost guaranteed to score in the North London derby, but at the same time it is a close certainty that he will do something which will result in a 3 game ban.

In pure footballing terms he is a great striker when on form, and can be absolutely unplayable but those occasions are far too inconsistent for my liking and Tottenham will find the same problem.  I see a level of similarity between Spurs and City fans in some ways, both sets of supporters like players who give everything and put it all on the line, even if they aren't as technically gifted as others, that definitely doesn't describe the Togolese striker.


The 27 year old fancies himself as being so much better than he actually is, he has made it publicly clear that he is holding out for a move to Real Madrid where he spent the second half of last season on loan, I think Ade is the only person in Europe though that believes he is good enough for a club of that size.  His total haul for the Spanish giants was 8 goals in 22 games, 5 of which came in the league.  When you consider that he was probably working as hard as he ever works in that period it is not a particularly impressive tally.

The size of the players ego however doesn't end there, according to todays Mirror he has started telling his prospective new club that they must sign new players in order for him to sign, Wayne Rooney this guy isn't.  The newspaper reckon that he has insisted they sign Lassana Diarra and assure him of other quality signings before he agrees to a potential move, I find this attitude bizarre since if he doesn't deem the Spurs squad good enough his only other option is our reserve squad, it seems pretty farcical to me, he must really believe that a massive club will come in for him, something which patently isn't going to happen.


Even if this deal is going to happen, it still seems crazy to me for us to strengthen one of our rivals, even though he won't score hat fulls of goals for them, he will still be of assistance.  I suppose on the other hand it could get his wages off our books which will clearly help, the City fans I have spoken to seem pretty split on it really.  Clearly he isn't a 'Mancini player', but thanks to our previous manager we are stuck with him on sky high wages and maybe just getting rid of him to wherever is preferable even if it does help Tottenham...

Rumour Mill: Ade For Lennon...No Chance...

Alarm bells started ringing up and down Fleet Street on Sunday when Roberto Mancini revealed that he was in the market for a winger.  The Italian is often pretty open about players that he is looking at and his confirmation that he is looking to recruit both a central midfielder and a winger has caused quiet a stir in the press.


The bastion of all things accurate and reasonable, the Mirror, today claim that a swap deal is in the offing involving everyone's (least?) favourite wheeler dealer Harry Redknapp.  The two names being rammed together in this most recent case of media desperation are Emmanuel Adebayor and Aaron Lennon.

Clearly we are looking to move on the striker and have struggled to do so previously.  In footballing terms I still feel that Adebayor could have something to offer, but his attitude in training and supposed undermining of the manager makes that a near impossibility.  The biggest problem with the striker is his sky high wages, there is clearly not a shortage of clubs who would happily take him, but he seems incredibly unwilling to take a wage cut, a problem that we are facing with many of the players on the outskirts of the squad.


The newspaper report that talks have already gone on, something that I find highly unlikely, and they claim that both parties are trying to 'numbercrunch' the figures involved to find a solution that both parties would be happy with.  Lennon would clearly be a decent option, but I would hardly be blown away by his arrival.  He wouldn't be close to the first team and if his signing was at the expense of Shaun  Wright-Phillips, that would be a shame.  He might be lightning fast, but I have never been entirely sure that he is good enough for a team aiming for the title.  A good squad player, but not a starter.

I suppose the other way to look at it, is that if there are no other offers on the table it would get Ade's wages off our books and clearly Lennon would be on less money and therefore it would make sense.  The big stumbling block in my eyes is that I highly doubt the player is willing to take a pay cut to play for Tottenham, he has been unwilling too before and I see no reason why he would take a cut now.  It remains an inescapable fact that the White Hart Lane club won't be able to pay him what he is currently getting.


I see no truth in this to be honest, I am sure we will sign a wideman, but the man to fill that role looks increasingly likely to be Italian winger Alessio Cerci.  Obviously I hope that we can move on Adebayor, if only to get his wages off the books, rumours abound that Real Madrid may be ready to make a move for the striker, although quite why they want him remains a mystery to me.


Ultimately I just don't see this one as anything more than tabloid nonsense, I wouldn't be overly disappointed if it were to happen but I highly doubt there is anything in this one.

Has Mancini Scored A Bit Of An Own Goal?

Firstly I should point out that I am a fan of Roberto Mancini and I have always given him the benefit of the doubt, I do feel he has made some mistakes, but who doesn't?  He has made less mistakes than many of our previous managers so we shouldn't complain, that doesn't take away from the fact that I think he has just made a bit of an error of judgement.


I suppose the expected thing would be for me to write about our new awesome, yet gaudy aircraft, or the new name for our stadium which everyone will continue to call Eastlands no matter how much is spent to make us call it otherwise.  On reflection, that statement makes it sound as if I am against a stadium name change, which I definitely am not.


It is however our managers decision to sideline some members of our squad that is bothering me, I think the impact it could have potentially could be pretty difficult to deal with.  The MEN has a bit of a none story this evening, it merely confirms what we already know and that is that some of our players will not be allowed to train or travel with the rest of the squad, and I am not sure that is a great idea.


The sidelined players are Craig Bellamy, Emmanuel Adebayor, Wayne Bridge and Nedum Onuoha (they also list RSC, but fail to mention his absence is down to him playing in the Copa America, top quality journalism), now clearly the majority of those players aren't good enough for our team, but surely taking them to America and getting them fitter makes them more salable assets.  Unless there are moves in the offing for all of those players that can take place before the players return from their USA tour, it serves no purpose to not take them.


I suppose the counter argument could be that they could instill some negativity in the camp, but they have all been away from the team for so long I am unsure as to how destructive they could actually be.  Clearly the papers were full this morning of negative words from both Bellamy and Adebayor, but I think a lot of the motivation behind those quotes was probably because they were sidelined by the clubs coaching staff.

The other issue is that I still believe a couple of those players could offer us something.  If Tevez is to leave, Emmanuel Adebayor could have his uses unless we replace the Argentine quickly, and even though I wrote recently that I felt Onuoha wasn't necessarily good enough for Manchester City I still felt he could offer some decent backup if he impressed over pre-season.


Clearly the thinking behind the 'ban' is to keep morale up, but part of me worries that by taking these actions we are not only taking the players out of the shop window, but that we might also inadvertently damage morale.  Let's not forget there are no stories about Jo being banned, but Adebayor, oh yeah, it makes sense to keep him away from the team....

Rumour Mill - £15M Argentine Striker A Possibility?

An interesting rumour today can be found lurking in the Mail, since that particular paper is one step away from a tabloid, their rumours tend to be utter drivel, but I actually really hope there is some truth in this one.

According to the newspaper Real Madrid are ready to listen to offers for Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, to make the story even more interesting they reckon that Jose Mourinho could be ready to let him go for as little as £15million...surely this a no brainer.

The striker would cost LESS than Jo, think about that for a second, the Brazilian striker supposedly cost £20million (how much of that we paid remains to be seen, much of that was apparently based on appearances and other criteria) and for the money he has provided 6 goals in 38 appearances, only 1 of those coming in the league, nothing more really needs to be said about the 24 year old.

Higuain on the other hand has a fantastic scoring record and has demonstrated himself to be a fine footballer.  After performing very well for River Plate in South America he made the move for Real Madrid, costing the Spanish side €13million.  His form there has been excellent, netting 77 goals in 166 games as well as providing 26 assists.

I think clearly he would be a great addition if he was willing to be part of a squad set up, there are question marks over that since his growing frustration at Madrid is due to a lack of first team opportunities.  He has only appeared in 17 La Liga games this season  due to a back injury but he did manage 10 goals in that time, I find it quite baffling why he isn't their first choice striker.  If he could be tempted to move however I think he would be a tremendous asset, especially if Carlos Tevez leaves.

In an extension to the story however, the players father has spoken out and claimed that his son would like to stay in Spain and fight for a place in the first team, he said:

"A lot of clubs like my son....We are honoured by their interest, but Gonzalo wants to remain in Spain with Real Madrid.".

Clearly this could make a deal more difficult to put together, but in the end money talks and if Madrid do really want to get rid of him the player may have very little choice.  An ideal situation would be a swap deal involving Emmanuel Adebayor, but there would still be the problem of assuring the player that there would be enough opportunities for him to play.  Arsenal and Tottenham are also interested and it is highly conceivable that they would be a more attractive option since they would offer him definite first team football every week.

If he could be convinced though this is one deal that I think would be fantastic, and would really help us going forward.