VMC’s Lorna delivers her latest take on City squad strengthening matters and rumours in circulation ahead of the end of season run-in…
And so allegedly, according to the hacks in the know, the race is back on and it seems Napoli’s Edinson Cavani is now not going to Juventus as was previously thought. This surely leaves from England’s point of view, Chelsea and City in the running again for an amazingly talented player.
In his own words this week, Cavani said:‘…In Napoli I am fine as I have the love of the fans, but in football you never know where you will play in the future…much also depends on the club and the decisions of the president.’
And it’s Napoli’s nutter president who is sure to relish the limelight on this one. Aurelio De Laurentiis has this to say: ‘Because of the 70 million euro clause there are maybe two teams who can spend that amount and you have to see if the coaches are the same or will change because they are always the ones who decide.’
The assumed Cavani price range of around £50 million no more than that attributed to Atletico Madrid’s Falcao. If City were rumoured to be prepared to pay that much for him then I am sure we would be prepared to dish out the same amount for Cavani.
The next question is from a City fans perspective would be who is the better purchase out of the two of them with FFP in mind…for me, they are both as good as each other and I wouldn’t be mithered which one we got.
Above all else, as I’ve been suggesting since the turn of the year, this is going to be a more than interesting summer I can guarantee it.
Both City and Chelsea will obviously offer a striker in any Falcao or Cavani deal; for Chelsea it would be Fernando Torres and for City it could be Edin Dzeko. I think there could be a slight problem were Dzeko offered up as he is still heavily linked to returning to the Bundesliga but this is football and anything can happen.
There is always the option of shipping out another striker. After all, we do have have Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero to consider and as I have mentioned previously Aguero is not settled and Tevez is nearing the end of his contract (it seems Monaco still have an eye on him). So on that basis I don’t see why we can’t offload one of the three in an effort to get either Cavani or Falcao on side. – Real’s Higuain as previously stated here remains a big third option.
City will bounce back next season and next season is when the rags and everyone else WILL need to worry. In particular, the Stretfords group of thirty somethings (shortly to include RVP) can’t go on forever. We will emerge stronger and having a bloody good new striker on board will be a big start regardless of whether we have Mancini in charge or not.
Other transfer rumours in circulation are coming to the surface as this season enters the final stages; City have been linked with many names again, some of whom include 21 year old Arsenal defender Carl Jenkinson whom we did have an interest in before he moved to The Gunners from Charlton. City have been intent on continuing to try to secure English players to join the ranks. The Blues have been seen to be keeping tabs on Jenkinson but as of yet no move has been made. It is worthy of note that Jenkinson has signed a long-term contract with Arsenal so the transfer, if there was to be one might not take place in the imminent summer window.
Next up, 19 year old midfielder Jonathan Williams of Crystal Palace. Ian Holloway the Palace manager has compared Williams with the likes of our play maker maestro David Silva (Hmmm…we shall see). David Platt has been to London and observed the youngster and City seem really keen on placing a preliminary bid of £8m on the table. Again, I don’t see anything happening soon as Williams is under contract till 2017.
Talking of play makers, one interesting piece of transfer gossip is the lining up of 19 year old Dutch midfielder Adam Maher who, it is alleged, is coming over to us in the summer. Maher currently at AZ, is estimated to cost somewhere in the region of £7.5 to £10 million. He has been approached by Txiki Begiristain and City’s Director of Football has invited Maher to come over to the Etihad and watch our guys in action. This transfer could be a possibility especially, if Samir Nasri goes whereby Maher would be a shoe-in. Arsenal and Tottenham have also expressed an interest in Maher. Wherever he decides to go to he will most certainly be leaving AZ at the end of this season. Let’s hope he doesn’t elect to go to London as is mentioned in some papers…this is a transfer worth monitoring.
Meanwhile, there seems to be a lot of hype around suggesting once again that there is to be a massive summer clear out at The Etihad starting with Tevez, Dzeko, Lescott, and the Toure brothers regardless of whether they have any time left on their contracts or not.
Other players under the ‘moving on’ spotlight are highlighted to be Samir Nasri due to his under performance, Maicon, Sinclair and seemingly, John Guidetti due to his injury issues. Maybe it is for this reason that Guidetti does not quite ‘cut it’ with Roberto Mancini?
The departure of players en masse obviously leaves cause for concern regarding getting in players who are worthy of note, money and have a fighting spirit.
In other news, The Citizens are said to have stepped up the pace in pursuit of Marco Reus, Borussia Dortmund’s 23 year old German international who would fit nicely into our squad, but I don’t see how this can come about as he still has four years left on his contract to run. The same goes for Dortmund’s young midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. I percieve see any immediate rush to purchase him either as he too is signed to Dortmund till at least 2017. Dortmund don’t need to sell so to me this is a dead rumour however, both players as we have seen at close quarters are both worthy of monitoring in the coming seasons. The City engine room does pose more questions than answers right now. We are top heavy with midfielders, all of whom are talented. However, Reus? I would like to see him over here and I am sure you would to.
One muck raking rumour that I myself am not overjoyed to hear is that Micah Richards could possibly head for the door and go to Arsenal. His right back position has been secured by Zabaleta during his lengthy injury absence and I don’t really think that the fans would be too happy if Zaba was replaced, neither would we be happy if Richards left. So here we have an impasse situation. I hope this stays the way it reads right now. Pure speculation.
On a final note, we can’t leave the Manchester City manager out of the rumour equation. It is reported that Zenit St Petersburg have expressed an interest in Roberto Mancini to replace Luciano Spalletti. In my opinion, Mancio seriously needs to consider his options here as his tinkering has gone too far of late.
UPCOMING FIXTURES:
all times East Manchester
Sa 30Mar 15h00 Newcastle, The Etihad, PL
Mo 08Apr 20h00 The Rags, The Swamp, PL
Su 14Apr 16h00 The rags or Chelsea, Wembley, FACSF
We 17Apr 19h45 Wigan Athletic, The Etihad, PL
Su 21 Apr 13h30 Spurs, White Hart Lane, PL
Sa 27 Apr 12h45 West Ham United, The Etihad, PL
Sa 04 May 15h00 Swansea, The Liberty Stadium, PL
Su 12 May 15h00 Reading, The Madejski Stadium, PL
Su 19 May 16h00 Norwich City, The Etihad, PL
City vs West Brom To Be Rearranged
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