Transfer talk: Who could be coming

Following the three top quality signings of Jerome Boateng, David Silva and Yaya Toure, things are looking less clear as to who else will be joining City for the upcoming season.

The most obvious areas are full-back and centre forward, if Roque Santa Cruz moves on. The Paraguayan has been linked with a number of clubs, although it’s unlikely he will leave before new strikers are in.

Little progress appears to have been made with agreeing a fee for Edin Dzeko, while speculation surrounding Ibrahimovic has diminished of late. If the Swede were willing to come to Eastlands, then it’s possible a deal could still happen. Offering Robinho in part-exchange would make it a lot more palatable financially.

There’s a feeling that a deal for Dzeko isn’t being pushed as hard as it might while other irons are in the fire. Aside from Ibrahimovic, the biggest of these is Torres.

After we missed out on a Champions League place, the likelihood of us signing the Spanish striker seemed zero, yet rumours abound that ourselves and Chelsea are in the hunt. As champions and champions league contenders, Chelsea must surely be favourites, particularly with Abramovic keen to make a big name signing this Summer.

However it could be argued that Chelsea’s priority is midfield. Both Abramovic and Ancelotti are fans of Kaka, who has not captured hearts in Madrid and doesn’t come across as a Mourinho style player.

Looking at Torres himself, el Nino seems in no rush to be back in Liverpool, while the planned discussions with Roy Hodgson could simply be PR for both parties. Any sale of Torres would need careful media management on merseyside, where Liverpool would presumably portray it as the player’s decision to leave – rather than their own desire to cash in.

If City were to pull off such a stunning signing, and bring in a target man, then the chances of either Tevez or Adebayor departing would increase dramatically. Tevez has his suitors, and the influence of Kia Joorabchian can never be discounted. An improved contract may be the price City have to pay if we want to keep our talismanic Argentine.

Mario Balotelli’s agent claims we have made a bid to sign the Inter striker. The link with Mancini who gave Balotelli his debut is obvious, but if we sign any of the more established strikers we’ve been linked with, then it’s hard to see where Balotelli would fit in.

Back at left-back, the attacking Aleksandar Kolarov is strongly linked with us, not least by the Lazio president who struggles to keep his opinions to himself. An offer bigger than one from Real is rumoured to have been made, though not accepted.

Interest in David Luiz appears genuine. The 23 year old Brazilian is similar to Boateng in that his terrfic natural ability enables him to play across the back four. Whilst his quality is clear, signing Luiz would give us a surplus of players whose best position is central defence.

The remaining player with whom we’ve already made a bid is James Milner. Agreeing a deal with Villa appears to be the sticking point here. City don’t appear to pay over the odds for Milner in the same way they were Lescott last season. Quite right too. A cash plus player deal has been mooted in the media, though swap deals occur a lot more often in speculation than they do in reality.

A right-back who offers a genuine threat going forward is the only position where no player is being strongly linked. Mancini may have a desire to be reunited with Maicon or to sign Dani Alves, but these appear unrealistic. Holland’s Gregory van der Wiel is likely to be playing in the World Cup final, but doubts remain about him defensively.

  • Who do you think City will sign?
Possible squad for 2010/11 (update 2)
City transfer talk: 8 July

Comments

  1. I think that we now have good quality all over the pitch and in reserve, so if we don’t sign Kolorov/Luis I wont lose too much sleep. If we can successfully negotiate the tricky season opening, then I can’t see any way we wont finish in the top 5. To win the league however I think we need a top quality match-winner like Torres (when fit) and a real leader/winner on the pitch. Looking forward to Spain/Germany tonight where I’ll no doubt see a few leader/winners.

  2. i thnik mancini will bring kolarov-milner-ibrahimovic-Dzeko/balotelli (we are always linked with these players and they are the most likely to come )

    on the other hand i rubbish reports linking us with luiz-drogba-torres-gourcuff-cole-alves-maicon-vidic-vanwiel-vanvaart-

    most likely out is Swp-Rsc-garrido-onuoha-richards-ireland-jo-caicedo-

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published / Required fields are marked *