City transfer talk: 12 July

City have yet to make a formal bid for Lazio’s Aleksandar Kolarov according to Il Corriere dello Sport, though the Italian paper believes an offer could be made this week. If not, Lazio expect the Serbian to report for pre-season training.

It certainly sounds like he could be on his way. The sticking point is likely to be the fee with Il Corriere dello Sport talking about an 18 million euro offer being made by City.

The M.E.N. brings sad news in the form of our bid to sign Torres. The factors against it happening are a prohibitive asking price and the player wanting Champions League football, therefore favouring a move to Chelsea. Not much cause for optimisim here.

At least we might be stepping up our bid to sign Edin Dzeko, after the player reiterated his desire to move in an interview with Kicker. Juventus are strong rivals to sign the Bosnian, and it remains to be seen whether Wolfsburg will accept a realistic transfer fee. There’s the possibility of Roque Santa Cruz being offered in part exchange according to the Telegraph.

A report in Italy that Mario Balotelli’s agent has flown to Manchester for discussions with City and United has been picked up by the Mail amongst others. It’s difficult to see where the 19 year old would fit into our squad if we sign a senior striker, though our reported interest does seem to be genuine.