Could The One That Got Away Make A Return? I Certainly Hope So...

The academy at City is regarded as one of the best in the country, and understandably so.  If you look back over the years, the amount of Platt Lane graduates still involved in professional football is numerous.  Under the stewardship of Jim Cassell the youth development arm of the club flourished, I am not going to list all of these graduates but there are many of them at all levels of the game.  


Of all the players to come off the Academy conveyor belt the best were clearly Micah Richards, who has made our right back position his own, Shaun Wright-Phillips, who has had a career in the top flight, and the focus of this piece, Daniel Sturridge a striker with the potential to be one of the best in the league.  His departure still bothers me to this day and for a long time I have thought about how much i'd love him back in Manchester.

The striker joined City when he was 13, moving up North from Coventry and straight away he began to make a name for himself.  In his first year he won the Nike Cup (largest under 15's football tournament) with City and in doing so he finished top goalscorer and was named player of the tournament, an accolade he shares with Carlos Tevez.  The following season he fired the club to the final of the FA Youth Cup, at 16, he was the youngest member of the team, but his 4 goals en route to the final in addition to the 2 he scored in defeat to Liverpool secured him a professional contract that came into play when he turned 17.


He played a bit part for a couple of seasons, balancing games for the reserves with first team appearances, mostly from the substitute bench, he was also hampered with injury, but in the 2008-2009 campaign he became an important member of the first team squad making 26 appearances over the course of the season.  It was a great shame that towards the end of that year it had become quite apparent that the youngster would move on, talks over a new contract reached an impasse and he moved to Chelsea, who at the time, looked like winning everything in sight.

Clearly at the time many of us labelled Sturridge greedy, believing he had taken the big pay day (something he has always denied) to go and warm the Stamford Bridge substitute bench, and for a couple of years it looked like a pretty bad move as the games came extremely infrequently.  It is unclear whether the powers that be at Chelsea realised just how talented the forward was, in fact I do wonder if his 6 month loan spell at Bolton for the 2nd half of last season saved his Chelsea career, he notched up an explosive 8 goals in 12 games for the Lancashire club, this really did make people sit up and notice, and for me personally the whole thing was hugely depressing.


If Sturridge had stayed at City I genuinely believe he would be further along in his development than he is now, not to say he is a bad player or that he could possibly fail to meet his potential, but he would have played much more football with us even with the stars we were beginning to sign at the time.  This season the 22 year old is playing an important part in the first team at Stamford Bridge, and the goals are flowing, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he is supposedly getting frustrated at Chelsea.

I do wonder if he now regrets the move, seeing where we are compared to where his new club are.  There is a big chance that AVB or whoever is in charge come the end of the season will miss out on Champions League football, where as we could theoretically end the campaign as Champions, had he stayed, he could have won an FA Cup medal and potentially a Europa League as well as the Championship.  His honours with his current club show 1 league title and 1 FA Cup, and lets be clear his role in these successes were minimal to say the least.


So why is he supposedly frustrated?  Reports in the media claim that he is growing tired of being forced onto the wing to accommodate the misfiring Torres and the ageing Didier Drogba.  I can entirely understand this irritation he is certainly looking like a better prospect than the Spaniard and with the Ivorian in the twilight of his career, surely the England international should be getting more of a go in central areas.

As is probably abundantly clear from this, I have always been a huge fan of Sturridge and I hold my hands up and say that I would love to see him back at Eastlands, granted we let him go for essentially nothing, and to bring him back would cost about £20 million, but look at it this way, he is a proven Premier League goal scorer, if theoretically we are to sign a new forward to replace Tevez or whoever, why should we spend £30 million plus on someone like Cavani or Lavezzi?  I genuinely believe that Studge has the ability to be a top top striker and at only 22, he is exactly the age of player that we should be looking at.


Roberto Mancini has made his feelings clear in the past and again recently he has reiterated that he really admires the player, so is this one a possibility?  I suppose a lot depends on how the season ends for Chelsea and whether the player is willing to swallow his pride and return to the club that made him what he is today.  There is also a doubt as to whether he would be accepted by the Eastlands faithful, but I would welcome him back happily.  Sturridge got away once, but if we have the chance to bring him back, surely we should jump at the opportunity?

January Preview

Firstly I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year, and I hope you had a good Christmas.  Things have been quiet on here, mostly because the run up to the festive period was ridiculously busy for me, and then I returned to my parents for the holiday season so didn't really have much opportunity to update the blog, now that things are back to normal, it will be a lot more regular again.


I think the best place to start is by previewing the coming month.  The importance of January can not be underestimated, we are essentially playing every 3 days for the foreseeable future.  In comparison our title rivals have a much easier month, their schedule has been freed up massively after they were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Crystal Palace, they play 4 games between now and February, compared to our 5, it may only be one game, but it could make the world of difference.  The title is often won and lost in this month and I think this year could be the same.  As we all know United still have to play many of the bigger teams away from home, whereas we only have a trip to the Emirates left, if we can end this month on top or trailing by no more than 4 points, I think we can and probably will take the title.

In terms of league competition we will meet Wigan away, where you would expect us to take 3 points with a weakened team, and then old rivals Tottenham visit Eastlands, Spurs will be a really difficult challenge as always and should they provide an upset they will be even more embroiled in the title race than they already are!


Off the field January is also highly important as well, the transfer window opened on the early hours of New Years Day and will remain that way until the end of the month, this time however things are a bit different, with FFP looming larger than ever we have to be even more responsible than windows gone by.  On that very subject there seems to be an element of tension between Roberto Mancini and the powers that be in Abu Dhabi.  The suggestions in the newspapers in the last few days seem to indicate that the Italian wanted to bring in a midfielder and a winger over the Summer but was not authorised to do so.  It wouldn't take a genius to work out that those 2 targets were probably Daniele De Rossi and Italian winger Alessio Cerci, one of those is seemingly a target for this January.

The impending departure of Yaya Toure is going to make what is already a challenging month even more difficult, and De Rossi could really make it a lot more straight forward.  The belief was originally that the club had to sell some players to buy, and it is thought that whilst not all of the incoming money would be made available for new players, some of it would be.  As far as I can see if we do manage to finally move on a certain moody Argentine striker, we will have an extra £250,000 a week in the wage budget and around £20million in the transfer pot.  Not enough to bring in rafts of new players but potentially enough for De Rossi.


It is not just big names that will be on the way, it would appear that Nedum Onuoha will finally move on for around £2.5million, Wayne Bridge could be removed from the wage bill as well, these departures would also free up some important finances.

It would be a dream to end January in both domestic cup competitions, still 3 or more points clear on top of the table, and it would be even more special if we had secured De Rossi and offloaded Tevez.  If that dream is going to become reality we will need to work incredibly hard and obviously some players will have to step up to the plate, Edin Dzeko needs to re find his form and confidence, and Samir Nasri, who personally I think has performed pretty well overall, needs to continue to develop his game and find his exact role in the team.


Things are undeniably going swimmingly, but this month could really make or break the rest of our season, so lets all get behind the team and try to make sure that the dream becomes reality!

Rumour Mill: More Chance Of Us Resigning Jo Than This Italian Enforcer...

When it comes to football websites, there are those that only deliver fact or close to it (BBC Sport), there are websites that just make up nonsense (Tribal Football, Caught Offside) and then there are some in the middle that pretend they have sources in high up places, and sometimes break a credible story but mostly just publish tosh.  This rumour is from goal.com a website that fits firmly in that final category.


The widely ridiculed footballing website has today published a story stating that Roma enforcer Daniele De Rossi is ready to make a sensational switch to England and possibly to City, they have however not just made these claims and left them hanging, they also have direct quotes from a 'source' supposedly within the club...now clearly these 'sources' are always just the work experience kid, but for some reason they think we are all fools and that we will fall for it!


The tough tackling Italian currently has a contract that runs up until 2012, and talks over a renewal have been ongoing.  According to the report he wants not only a bumper pay rise but also assurances from the clubs owners that they will be spending big money to take the team in the right direction.  If these talks don't go well, clearly the club wouldn't want to lose him for nothing next year and that is why it is claimed that an offer €23million from City would tempt them to sell.


The 'source' has 'revealed':

"Manchester City are ready to offer Roma €23m for De Rossi and can give him €9m per annum over four to five years....De Rossi is aware of Mancini's interest and his attempts to bring him to City....He wants economic and technical guarantees from Roma for him to stay. If these guarantees are not met he will not sign the new contract. At the moment, he is very uncertain as Roma have been lukewarm with him in terms of this new deal. The new owners do not want to take on heavy financial commitments before looking into all the club's accounts.".

Let's just for a minute go along with this whole story and pretend we don't think it's utter tosh.  Manchester United have courted the player for years and there is also supposedly interest from Chelsea so if he were to move on there would definitely be competition from other big clubs, whether these sides would compete with the financial package on offer from City seems unlikely so it could possibly put Roberto Mancini in pole position.

Now for the negative (realistic) viewpoint.  De Rossi is Roma through and through and it seems highly unlikely to me that he would play for another club any time soon, he has had the opportunity to move on several occasions before, with that lot from Salford generally thought to be the side closest to sealing his signature.  After all this time though he has stayed put and I don't see him going anywhere else in the near future.  It is highly likely that there could be complicated negotiations over a renewal of his contract, but the bottom line in my opinion is that this is just a ploy from the player and agent to secure more money, we are being used.

It should be pointed out that he is a top quality player and would obviously bring a lot to City, albeit in a position that we are hardly short, but I just don't see anything in this one.  Nothing about the story seems particularly convincing, the website, the 'source', and the comments, for me, nothing really adds up...

My Carlos Tevez Replacements Rated Out of 10!

Clearly there is no definitive answer on the whole Tevez saga at this point, and in a few weeks we could easily have another statement claiming he wants to say.  Rather than go on about the impact and effect on the team of his possible departure, i've been thinking about who would be a good replacement?

Below are my thoughts on some of the ideas i've read, i've also given each a nifty rating out of 10, now clearly there will be players that I have omitted and maybe you don't agree with my thoughts, but isn't that what's great about football? So lets get into it:

Didier Drogba
One possible solution is a short term fix, someone that can come in and take the strain for a season while the rest of our forward line continue to find their feet.  Drogba may be getting on a bit, but he is a proven goal scorer in the top flight, with the ongoing rejuvenation of Chelsea they would probably be prepared to sell and he may fancy one final big pay day.  He may be an entirely different player to Tevez, but I think he would score goals, and as a quick short term solution I am unsure there are many better options.  Having said that if we are spending money it would be better to look to the future and this goes against the Ivorian.  The other problem is that he is remarkably similar to what we already have, and for many that would make him a less attractive proposition.

7/10 - Could do a job in the short term, but isn't overly inspiring.


Karim Benzema

A few years ago the French striker was toasted as being one of the finest prospects in Europe, there were long running rumours linking him with both Arsenal and Manchester United but it was Real Madrid that took the plunge.   In his first season he only managed 8 goals, and this term just ended he was mostly used as a substitute, however he was handed a life line as an injury to Gonzalo Higuain brought him into the first team on a more regular basis.  He was actually pretty successful this term scoring 26 goals in 48 games, for most people that would make him a key player but with the wealth of forwards at Madrid there are still intense rumours suggesting that they would be prepared to sell.

8/10 - There are some questions over his ability to score in England, however with Madrid's interest in Tevez we could get both the player and money if we deal with Jose Mourinho.


Gonzalo Higuain

I have rated the Argentine for a long time, now in his 5th season with Real he has become a really prolific goal scorer and their first choice striker.  In his time with the club he has netted 69 goals in 127 games, clearly an impressive strike rate and with time I can see his skill set and goal scoring form translating to England.  At 23 he is still young and has a long career ahead of him, and that clearly is another positive.  The only real downside is his injury record which isn't the best, we have enough players made of glass and we could do without another.  Injuries aside though I think he would be ideal, clearly he is a very different player to Tevez but I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing.

9/10 - As with Benzema, I think there is definitely a deal to be done here, and a money plus Higuain offer isn't necessarily out of the question.


Samuel Eto'o

The former Barcelona striker was closely linked to City a few years ago, but at the time it seemed he may have been using the club to ensure a higher wage at wherever he did end up moving too.  Ultimately he signed for Inter Milan and he has been reasonably successful, continuing his impressive scoring record from his previous club.  There have been murmurings in recent months about a possible move to England, with him claiming that he wanted to play in all the top leagues, but I wonder if it is more down to the money he could earn.  At 30 years old he is one of the older options, and I can't help but think he is angling for one final large pay day, clearly a good player but I am not sure he is the right man for us at this moment.

6/10 - We previously tried a deal involving Tevez and Eto'o and it didn't come off, and to be honest I am glad, he may be younger than Drogba but his lack of knowledge of the English league makes him less attractive.


Sergio Aguero

Fellow Argentine Sergio Aguero has been performing extremely well in La Liga for Atletico Madrid for a few years now.  He has proven himself to be an all round forward and I believe that makes him a more than ideal replacement for Tevez.  He is a hard worker, extremely skillful and I think he could be very successful in England.  Question marks remain over whether he would score enough goals and I understand that argument, but I think he would be well worth the gamble.  If this is the man we go for, it will have to be sharpish as a move to Juventus is currently in the pipeline.  Clearly Atletico couldn't afford Tevez so we might have to find a buyer before we can finance this move, but with a release clause set at £35million I think this is a no brainer.

10/10 - For me he is far and away the best option to replace Tevez, he is a different type of player to Dzeko and Balotelli


Best of the rest:


Edinson Cavani - 6/10 - Never been overly impressed when i've seen him, expensive, and not sure about the Serie A to Premier League jump.

David Villa - 9/10 - Age is the only thing that puts me off in all honesty, good goal scoring, and good team player, expensive and not many years left on the clock however.

Hulk - 8/10 - I really like Hulk, but others don't, sometimes people suggest his footballing brain isn't good enough, physically great though.

Giuseppe Rossi - 7/10 - Unfortunate United links, good player and useful age, but never really been consistent enough for me.


Ezequiel Lavezzi - 7/10 - Looks decent, but doesn't score enough for me and would be very expensive.


Neymar - 2/10 - Just no...

If you made it to the end of this ramble, well done.  I am sure the majority of you may not agree with scores, or maybe even my first choice.  I stand by my thoughts though, I think if we end the month with Aguero (and maybe Nasri) and without Carlos Tevez I would be reasonably content.

Who Is Stefan Savic and What Could His Signing Mean?

It seems that transfer activity will finally begin this week at Eastlands with the possible signings of both Gael Clichy and young defender Stefan Savic.  We know all about the former but who is Stefan Savic and what sort of player are we signing?

Talking to the media in Italy today his signing was more or less confirmed by Roberto Mancini, the 20 year has been courted by many teams across Europe and is lauded as one of the rising stars of European football.  This appears to be further evidence of the club looking to the future and attempting to sign future stars securing the teams well being for years to come.

The central defender was born in Montenegro and began his career playing for BSK Borca in Serbia, he spent two seasons with the club before he moved onto bigger things and signed for Partizan last Summer.  It was during that season that he began to demonstrate his immense potential and clubs around Europe began to notice.

At 6'1 the defender is a commanding presence in the air and he has good strength that will help him adapt to English football relatively quickly, his pace has also been praised and he is surprisingly pacey for a taller defender.

Savic is expected to cost the club around £7million, a figure that seems acceptable when you consider the supposed potential that he possesses.  He has previously been on trial with Arsenal and in fact he claimed that a deal was in place that would have taken him to the Emirates, but this proposed transfer never came to fruition, it was reported at the time that Arsene Wenger was unwilling to part with the required money to secure him, where have we heard that before?

Chelsea and Tottenham have also been linked with swoops but it now appears that City have won the race.  So what does this signing mean for the rest of the squad?  I would imagine that at just 20 years of age it is unlikely that he will be a regular in the first team, and he may even spend some time playing with the reserve team initially to get used to a new country.  I would expect that we will begin the season with Lescott and Kompany at the heart of the defense with Dedyrck Boyata offering cover and with the return of Kolo Toure in September it seems unlikely that we will be in the market for any more defenders if this deal proves successful.

The 2 players who could really lose out are Nedum Onuoha and Jerome Boateng, although whether the latter would view a move away from Manchester as 'losing out' is clearly questionable.  Savic is comfortable playing at full back as well as centrally so with him providing cover for Richards, Zabaleta, Kolarov and potentially Clichy you can't see there being much of a future for Neds or Boateng come the start of the next season.

I hope this deal goes through in the end, I have always been keen for us to move for future talents rather than taking the Real Madrid approach to transfers.  Earlier in the Summer we were linked to a huge move for Gary Cahill a transfer that would have cost us £17million and when you consider United recently paid £16million for Phil Jones, the money we might pay for Savic could really make it a massive steal and a fantastic piece of business.  On the other hand he could be dross, but lets not worry about that for the time being....

Forget Sanchez, We Should Get This Guy Before Someone Else Does...

As many of you may have noticed over the past couple of months I have grown pretty sick of the whole Alexis Sanchez saga, and as that continues to move at the pace of glacier I can't help but feel that we are missing a trick.

I think a lot of my indifference is down to the fact that I think there is a far better option out there who I think would be far more open to a move to England and Manchester City in particular, that man is World Cup winner Juan Mata.


Many of you will already be totally aware of the 23 year old who has lit up this Summers Under 21 European Championships.  The young Spaniard came through the ranks at Real Madrid and was part of their 'B' squad, but he never managed to move on to the first team, their loss was Valencia's gain where he has gone on to prove himself to be a fine prospect and a real asset.  I think he could offer us a huge amount and potentially be better suited to the Premier League than Sanchez.

He is very quick, can go round a man, has good delivery and also is a very accomplished finisher.   At 23, he is somewhat of a rising star in Spain and although there are issues with his strength David Silva has proved that you don’t have to built like a brick outhouse to survive.

Playing Mata left, Johnson right, with Silva through the middle behind Tevez or Dzeko I think we would carry a real threat.  There is a buyout clause in the players contract at £40million, but with the Spanish club struggling financially it has been suggested he could be secured for closer to £30million.  With a good salary on offer and his friend Silva also at the club I think he could be very tempted.

To me it is somewhat of a no brainer, it would be cheaper and easier than bringing in a player, who lets be honest, appears to have no interest in playing for this club.  The tabloids today carry stories about interest from Liverpool and particularly Arsenal, claiming Wenger is ready to put together a bid of around £18million which, when compared to the ridiculous figures we are supposedly offering for Sanchez, seems a real bargain.

Clearly in reality it will cost more than £18million to secure the player, but it would still come in cheaper than Sanchez and I cannot reiterate enough how much better I believe Mata to be.  His relationship with David Silva also cannot be underestimated they played together for Valencia and were understood to have a good friendship, whether he can convince his former team mate that Eastlands is the place to be remains to be seen, but it is certainly an avenue to pursue.

Obviously I don't mean to sound alarmist, there is still plenty of time before the season starts, but I am getting a little concerned about the lack of transfer news at City.  I can't help but think that currently we have all of our eggs in one basket in Sanchez and that we could risk missing out on potential other signings in the process...

Maybe i'm Insane, But I'd Really Like Us To Sign....

....Charles N'Zogbia.  I suppose right away I should point out that I am not expecting the French man to come in and replace David Silva or anything daft, but I think as a squad member he could be of massive assistance.

Essentially I feel that we are lacking some real direct pace in our squad currently, and I think that is something N'Zogbia can provide.  He is a direct runner, and has great delivery from wide areas, the natural width that he would provide would contrast to anything we already have.  I suppose there would be a clear comparison to SWP, but I can't help but feel that the Wigan winger would provide much more threat off the bench than Shauny ever would.

N'Zogbia is only 25, meaning he has a lot of his career ahead of him and clearly that is another positive.  His performances have been one of the biggest contributing factors to the survival of the Lancashire side this season, he has netted 10 goals which is not to be underestimated considering they came playing in a relatively weak side.

Clearly there are also some downsides to any potential deal, sometimes his attitude has appeared questionable and whether he could make the step up to a top 4 side is definitely up for debate, there is also a question mark over whether he would be happy only being a squad player as opposed to a regular starter.  

 The most important issue I suppose though would be competition, it is reported in the tabloids today that Liverpool are in pole position to sign the Frenchman for around £8million, they are joined by Sunderland who have also shown interest, as well as his former club Newcastle.

I am not suggesting this transfer is likely, or that there has been any speculation linking us to him, it is just a personal opinion, I can't help but feel that he would provide some decent options in our squad and offer some different things to what we already have.  I also think his experience and knowledge of the Premier League would be an asset, he wouldn't take particularly long to adapt and get used to his new club, something which couldn't be said about a player coming from abroad.  N'Zogbia for £8million?  It's a yes from me...

Can we focus on our weakest area for a while?

Do we really need another central defender?  Whilst fans of other clubs who don't watch very much Manchester City could 'hilariously' point out, yes we do, so Mancini can field 5 across the back to go with his 3 defensive midfield players.  Rubbish jibes aside, why are we continually linked with new centre backs when there is another gaping hole in our side?

Today sees reports from a couple of different media outlets linking us with Juventus and Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini..lets quickly run through members of our squad capable of playing in that position: Kompany, Lescott, Toure, Boyata, Boateng, Onuoha, Richards, Wabara and at a push Yaya Toure.  Even if a couple of those players were to move, whether it be on loan or permanently, we still have more than enough to get by.  When the Gary Cahill rumours went quiet, I for one was pretty pleased, I saw no reason for us to strengthen in that area, our defensive record is good, but that doesn't mean the entire backline is solid.

We started this season with Kolarov as first choice left back, with Jerome Boateng also (supposedly) comfortable playing there.  By the end of the season however, I think most City fans were happiest with right back Zabaleta playing on the left side of the defense.  The Serbian defender has had a difficult time this season, and it is strange to me how highly regarded he was before we bought him, supposedly we did battle with Real Madrid to secure his signature.  The 25 year old cost a lofty £16million and he arrived with high expectations, it hasn't quite yet panned out however.

I am not writing the defender off and saying he should be sold, but it is a clear weakness in our side and one that I think really should be addressed.  He arrived with a reputation for being an attacking fullback, and maybe if the offensive side of his game was more impressive we could justify his shaky defensive displays, but he isn't much better coming forward.  His distribution isn't the best, and he doesn't appear quick enough for the Premier League.  He was also lauded as being a set piece expert and also possessing a wicked shot, well he may have managed 3 goals (one of which was a superb free kick against Birmingham) but those pale into insignificance when you consider all the opportunities he has wasted taking on shots from 30 yards out when there have been other options available to him, his delivery from set pieces isn't much better either.

Perhaps surprisingly however I do think there is ability in the player, and I hope we do keep hold of him.  There were some signs of improvement over the closing months of the season and I think with more time in the squad he could develop his game and perhaps become more positionally aware, and possibly more aware of his defensive duties.  That isn't to say however that I think we should go into next season with him as first choice, I think he is good backup but he isn't good enough yet for a team chasing major honours.

Identifying replacements is not particularly straight forward, I think it is time that we had a full back who's main priority is to defend as opposed to attack.  Previously we have been closely linked to Leighton Baines and I think that deal may still come off, but I do have questions about the defensive side of his game, clearly he wouldn't come cheap either and that may put Mancini off somewhat.  Fabio Coentrao and Juan Vargas are other left full backs that we have been linked with but the fact they can both also be used as left wingers puts me off somewhat.

I am not writing this to propose a solution to the left back problem, and it would be better if I did, but one thing is for sure, whilst making moves for Sanchez, Eto'o, Chiellini or whoever else we will be linked too is fantastic, I still can't help but feel that we should be making the left back slot one of our main priorities.

It May Be a Refreshing Attitude, But Is He Good Enough?

Nedum Onuoha was the 'next big thing' for a long time, great things were expected of the young academy graduate, but he never really reached the level that many people expected him too.  His athleticism is there for all to see and the teenage sprint Champion certainly uses his speed as his best asset, but other parts of his game have let him down.

It seemed highly likely that his future at Eastlands was all but over after he was farmed out to Sunderland on loan last season, and it appeared probable that the move would be made permanent.  In recent time though suggestions of a transfer to Wearside have gone strangely quiet.  In fact moves to Bolton as part of a deal for Gary Cahill have been more likely, today though we see a refreshing show of determination from the player.  Too many footballers would rest on their laurels and just wait for a move, but City supporting Onuoha claims he is ready to fight for his place, is he good enough though?

I have never been entirely sure what Ned's best position is, his pace from right back is clearly a good asset, but his technical ability is somewhat lacking and his distribution has always let him down.  Not to say there aren't flashes of ability, the goal he scored for Sunderland against Chelsea was sublime.  At centreback his distribution is less important, but in this modern day players in all areas are expected to be comfortable on the ball, and that is never the impression that I get from the defender.

I suppose one defense of Onuoha could be his injury record, up until this season he has never managed a run of games in a settled team.  He has been permanently hampered by niggling injuries and clearly these will have impeded his development, I am not claiming he is up there with Paul Lake in the 'What Could Have Been' stakes, but I think he would definitely have been a better player than he is.

The other thing that should be addressed is how likely is he to get games, if we assume that Jerome Boateng will be shown the exit door after his recent outburst, we currently have Kompany, Lescott, Toure, Boyata, Richards and Wabara who are all capable of playing at the heart of the defense.  I suppose if you argue that we are best to loan out Wabara and Boyata for a season then there are still 4 players comfortable playing in the centre of the defence, does that leave any room for Onuoha?  Then imagine if we sign a new defender as has been widely reported, opportunities seem limited.

With the upcoming Financial Fair Play rules we need to be bringing in as much money as we can, and the sale of the speedy defender would probably bring us about £5million and that is money that could be extremely useful.  Another key issue it would be important to remember is his attitude towards Roberto Mancini, he said some pretty damning things when he first moved to Sunderland and we shouldn't forget that.

Obviously a lot of us would love to see him stay at the club, he is home grown, he loves the club and he shows passion, but does that make up for a slight lack of ability.  Onuoha is a top half of the table defender, but he isn't a top 4 defender.  I will hold my hands up and say I am impressed with this show of determination, but it doesn't get away from the fact that I just don't feel there is room for him at the club, nor do I feel he is good enough.

Rumour Mill - Have we beaten Arsenal to Ivorian speed merchant?

Today has been a bit of a crazy day for a City fan, most days are full of rumours but today they seem more certain than ever.  This morning were the claims that we had completed the signing of Luka Modric spreading across twitter, and that it was 'imminent'.  Personally I never bought into that one and it seems to have gone particularly quiet ever since it first 'broke', the other rumour however could be a lot more likely.

Granted the source of the story is hardly the most reputable, but it seems more likely than Modric.  It seems pretty clear that we have been monitoring the future of Ivory Coast winger/striker Gervinho over recent weeks, and it was apparent that we were competing with Arsenal, the players preferred destination.

This afternoon however come claims from French footballing website 'Foot Mercato' that the deal is as good as done.  They claim that we have flexed our financial muscle and absolutely blown the Gunners out of the water.  The figure quoted on the website is about £15.5million, which is pretty hefty, especially considering his contract runs out next Summer.  Early rumours had suggested that Arsenal had tabled around £8-9million so clearly if the reported figure is correct Lille would prefer to sell to us.

The player on the other hand would apparently take some more convincing, the French media reports suggest that City will offer him astronomical wages to make the proposition of Eastlands more attractive than the Emirates.  The other point to consider would be the presence of Yaya and Kolo Toure who are both international team mates with the forward.

The 24 year old is known for both his speed as well as his final product.  He is comfortable playing on the wing or through the middle and would definitely offer something that we don't currently have.  Maybe I give more credence to the story purely because I would like it to come off.  Clearly this is very much up in the air, and not from the most reputable source, but i'd just love it to happen!

To add further uncertainty to the whole debate, Ian McGarry has just tweeted that the player will complete a move to Arsenal over the weekend, back to the drawing board then I suppose, who to believe....

Selling Boyata Would Be A Huge Mistake

Rumours have flown around for a while suggesting that Roberto Mancini will move for England and Bolton defender Gary Cahill.  Firstly I question why we need another central defender when we already have Lescott, Kompany, Toure, Boyata, Boateng and potentially Micah Richards and young Reece Wabara that can play there.  If you ignore whether we need him however, there are other issues about this deal that worry me.

It is reported that there is a get out clause in Cahill's contract set at £17million and it is the Mirror that are today suggesting that we are ready to trigger that clause and make him our second Summer signing after Denis Suarez.  Firstly I can't help but feel that this is a huge sum of money, and quite clearly we will be paying more based on the fact that he is English, I have written before about Jan Vertonghen who plays for Ajax, and whilst I still don't feel we need more players in that area, the Belgian would represent much better value for money.

The other troubling part of the deal for me is the inclusion of other players as part of our offer.  It has been widely reported that City are going to throw in one or both of Nedum Onuoha and Dedryck Boyata.  Now ideally I would like to keep both of these young defenders within the squad, but if I had to pick one to definitely keep it would be Boyata.  I really think the 20 year has huge potential and I think moving forward he could go onto become a vital part of our team and squad.

The Belgian who broke into the first team during the 09-10 season has impressed when given the opportunity and nearer the start of this season he was so highly regarded by Roberto Mancini that he was picked ahead of Joleon Lescott.  The Mirror do point out that the City manager would prefer to keep both players, as he see's a bright future for both of them, hopefully this can remain the case.

I do fear that the writing is on the wall for Onuoha however, as much as I rate him and think that he could be an important squad member at the club I just feel he will get more regular football elsewhere, and despite the newspapers claims, I don't think the Italian manager fancies him.  Boyata however has time on his side and I think he is showing all the signs that he could develop into a top defender and personally I think Mancini would be mad to let him go whether it meant the Cahill deal fell threw or not.

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.

Is Jerome Boateng Becoming A Forgotten Man?

Last Summer was a really exciting transfer window for all Manchester City fans, the massive signings of players such as Silva and Toure suggested that a great season was on the way, and it certainly turned out to be that.  It is strange to now look back though and think that Jerome Boateng was one of the signings that I was most excited about.

There were murmurings about his arrival before the previous season had ended, and it seemed to be a dead cert that he would be a City player evetually.  The deal made sense in many ways, a young versatile, athletic defender who wasn't overly expensive, paying around £10million for the 22 year old seemed like good business.  Expectations raised even further when he went off to the World Cup, and playing in one of his unfavored positions, left back, he did really well.

I suppose in many ways his career highlight at City was that pre-season friendly against Valencia when he laid on a goal for Gareth Barry after a fantastic surging run down the right wing.  Things quickly went down hill, he injured his knee in a freak accident involving a drinks trolley, and when he finally returned to fitness his form was patchy to say the least.

Despite making 24 appearances in all competitions he has failed to impress, and due to injury and lack of form he has began to become the forgotten man.  Personally I am guilty of criticising Boateng, it is fair to say he has taken a long time to adjust to English football and he is still working on that, but there is clearly talent there.

Reports continue to circulate suggesting that he could be ready for a swift return to German, and Bayern Munich to be precise.  The stumbling block seems to be the price, with City holding out for around £17million to consider selling the player, a figure which would represent a fine bit of business, but I think that would be a massive mistake.

My defense of Boateng is pretty straight forward really, firstly he is only 22, and he is still learning his trade, at that age players need time to develop in their own country, let alone abroad.  The next crucial factor is that he has been forced to play out of position for the vast majority of his career at Eastlands, I will hold my hands up and say that I don't think he will ever be a world class full back, but when he has played at centre back on the odd occasion, I think he has looked a lot more composed.  Injuries have also had a massive effect on the player, there can't have been many points in the season where he has been fully fit, and he has never really had a long run of games in his favoured position. 

Essentially I think it is far too early to judge the player, he may be forgotten at the moment, but I think if we stick with him for another season and use him in his favoured position he could turn into a fine asset for this football club.

The Cesc Fabregas Conundrum...

A common criticism of Manchester City is that their approach to football is similar to a game of Football Manager, and at times if the press are to be believed it can certainly seem that way.  Reports today are continuing to circulate that Roberto Mancini is seriously a considering a move for nowty Catalan and Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.

The 'story' is clearly based on absolutely nothing concrete and is essentially just hearsay.  The Mirror reckon that Arsenal are so desperate to keep their captain that they would reject the £30million that supposedly Barcelona value him at, somehow the writer of the piece then jumps from that to City offering £50million, a sum which clearly would be accepted by the hierarchy at the Emirates.

I would never question the players ability, he is a top midfielder and would be a fine long term replacement for Xavi at the Nou Camp, but even if there was a grain of truth to such a story, would I really want City to pay £50million for a player that in all honesty I cannot stand.  It would be foolish to suggest that there isn't a place for him in the City midfield, De Jong, Fabregas and Toure has a fine ring to it, but I just can't feel this move would be far to 'Football Manager' for me.

As I have said previously Fabregas is a player of the highest quality, but there is something about him I cannot stand, his behaviour on the pitch irritates me and whilst he has is not one of the worst offenders for moaning and mouthing off, his regularity of doing it still grates on me.  That coupled with the ridiculous price tag just turn it into a deal that I can't get overly excited about.  I suppose in this market where Andy Carroll is worth £35million, £50mill for Fabregas is probably fair but it doesn't mean we should be paying it.

Even without my whole personal problem with the Spaniard, I think the chances of him agreeing to such a move are about as tiny as that of Dimitar Berbatov still being a United player next season.  For whatever reason Fabregas loves Arsenal, and Arsenal loves him back, the Mirror article contradicts itself by pointing out that he has himself stated that he would only ever play for the Catalans or the North London club, but then in the same story they claim a move to City could be in the offing.

Really all signs point towards some more low rent journalism in a tabloid, but it got me thinking that even though he's a great footballer, I hope we don't spend that sort of money on him....

Rumour Mill - Double Swoop Being Lined Up?

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.