Vital Manchester City member, Mr Kev sent us the following…
Since the Arab takeover I’ve found myself defending our club and our owners to a lot of other footie fans. We’ve thrown a lot of money around in the last 12 months, starting of course with Robinho at a British record value of £32.5m. There’s been a lot of criticism of him and his work rate. People have said we’ve overspent on him. I have defended the buy from day one.
He is evidently a phenomenal talent and Sheikh Mansour needed to do something to prove he was serious. A statement of intent, if you will. Since then, we overpaid on Nigel De Jong – a necessary move, to prevent him joining a ‘bigger club’ in the summer; spent big on Craig Bellamy, but injuries aside, he has been a solid purchase. Shay Given, for me, at £8m is a phenomenal bargain.
Now we come to the summer. Gareth Barry, at £12m, is another shrewd piece of business. He has already began to show his class in SA. No-one doubts his skill and commitment. Santa-Cruz is a man who we have probably paid too much for, but Hughes clearly feels he is a player he really wants. I am prepared to give him a chance to prove his worth.
Tevez was a masterstroke, a full blooded player who defences hate playing against. He will also add crucial goals that we lacked last season. And now we come to Adebayor.
I immediately had reservations about this. I don’t know a single Arsenal fan who was not keen to see him go. No-one doubts the talent, but after fighting on the pitch with Bendtner, openly inviting offers for his services from Milan and a host of European clubs, one has to question his motivation. I would have liked to have seen Bojinov get a chance to prove his worth, but again, I was prepared to give Hughes the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Today though, I am starting to feel a little unnerved. In the Sunday Times today there is an article suggesting that we are on the verge of signing Lescott, Terry and Kolo Toure. Where does this leave Onouha?
Last season he was outstanding. Certainly he was our second best academy graduate, and won Player of the Month twice. There was a credible rumour of a senior England call up and I for one was delighted with and for him.
Throughout the summer, Hughes & Cook have been saying that Onouha is going nowhere and, furthermore, that the Academy remains key to our plans. But if we are to buy three centre backs to move ahead of him in the pecking order, what incentive is there for him to stay? What message does it send out to the remainder of the Academy? I actually feel that as a defender, Nedum is a better player than Toure anyway and has the potential to be one of the very best. If someone of Nedum’s calibre is going to be squeezed out, without even being given a chance, I will begin to find it very difficult to defend our transfer policy.
I do not want City to buy a winning team, as Chelsea have. I want some of the top class talent Jim Cassell has been nurturing for the last 15 years to be allowed to realise their potential in the Premier League and ultimately the Champions League. I want this to be in a Sky Blue shirt. I would like to see one world class centre back come to City and for Nedum to learn everything he can from them, so that he becomes the very best player he can be. I believe buying in a new defence and ousting him would be a mistake, but more than that, it would be a sign that we are prepared to sell the soul of our club to speed success. For me this is a step too far.
What do you think?
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