Possible squad for 2010/11 (update 2)

With Yaya Toure and David Silva joining the club this week, the squad for the coming season is looking clearer. Previously we looked at how the Premier League’s new rules regarding squad sizes might shape our squad (original article, first update).

The signing of Yaya Toure gives Mancini plenty of scope to rotate his central midfielders. The manager voiced his concern about being unable to do this last season, where de Jong and Barry could rarely be rested.

With the Europa League to contend with, City could face a Fulham style 60+ games next season. Any talk of selling de Jong or Barry now we’ve signed Yaya Toure should be quickly rebuffed. These days nobody wins anything by having a strong first choice 11 alone.

United and Chelsea have been demonstrating this for several years, and City are now approaching a similar level.

As for who else might join, the rumours about Milner don’t go away and his mediocre World Cup may prevent Villa from attaining the £30m fee they hoped for. Putting Milner in the same price category as David Villa is absurd even for inflated English club prices.

Edin Dzeko appears the most likely striker to join, giving us the option of a target man with a better fitness record than Roque Santa Cruz. Torres speculation has resurfaced following his poor World Cup so far, and our signing of his compatriot David Silva. It would still be a big surprise to see him move to a club outside the Champions League.

Ibrahimovic is looking less likely, though Robinho’s strong World Cup could make a deal with Barcelona possible.

Aleksandar Kolarov is close to filling Mancini’s desire for an attacking left-back according to reports in Il Corrierre dello Sport. Whether he’s a significant improvement on Wayne Bridge is open to debate. Portugal’s Fabio Coentrao has looked a better bet in the World Cup.

From the squad below, one question is whether Mancini wants a quality attacking right-back. His Maicon dream is unlikely to be fulfilled. Another question is whether Stephen Ireland will be content with a squad place. At least he, along with everyone else, should get some game time thanks to the Europa League.

Goalkeepers:

• Joe Hart (home grown).
• Shay Given (home grown).
• Gunnar Nielsen.

Full backs:

• Pablo Zabaleta (also midfield, left-back).
• Wayne Bridge (home grown).
• New left back – Aleksandar Kolarov, Fabio Coentrao, David Luiz (also central defence), .
• New right back – Leonardo Bonucci. This position may be occupied by Boateng, Nedum Onuoha or Micah Richards.

Central defenders:

• Vincent Kompany (also midfield).
• Joleon Lescott (home grown).
• Jerome Boateng (also right-back).
• Kolo Toure.

Central midfielders:

• Gareth Barry (home grown).
• Nigel de Jong.
• Patrick Vieira.
• Michael Johnson (home grown).
• Yaya Toure (also central defence).

Creative midfielders:

• Stephen Ireland (home grown).
• New creative midfielder – James Milner (home grown, also winger), Steven Gerrard (home grown), Mesut Ozil, Marek Hamsek, Yoann Gourcuff.

Wingers:

• Adam Johnson (home grown).
• Craig Bellamy (also striker, home grown).
• Shaun Wright-Phillips (home grown).
• David Silva (also creative midfield).

Strikers:

• Emmanuel Adebayor.
• Carlos Tevez.
• New striker – Edzin Dzeko, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mario Balotelli (also winger).

Additional U-21 players:

• Vladimir Weiss (possible loanee).
• Dedryck Boyata (possible loanee).
• Alex Nimely.
• David Ball.
• Abdisalam Ibrahim.
• Gregory Cunningham.
• Andrew Tutte.
• Ryan McGivern (possible loanee).
• Alex Henshall.
• Javan Vidal.

Confirmed departures:

• Benjani.
• Karl Moore.
• Martin Petrov.
• Sylvinho.
• Stuart Taylor.

Other resulting departures:

• David Gonzalez.
• Kelvin Etuhu (home grown).
• Micah Richards (home grown).
• Nedum Onuoha (home grown, also right-back).
• Javier Garrido.
• Roque Santa Cruz.
• Robinho.
• Jo.
• Felipe Caicedo.
• Valeri Bojinov.
• Shaleum Logan (home grown).

• How do you see the final 25 senior players looking?