Jerome Boateng in, Micah Richards out?

Reports emanating from Germany today suggest that Jerome Boateng, the 21 year-old German international defender, will be leaving Hamburg this summer. Sky Sports had initially reported that City had concluded a deal before running a story quoting Hamburg officials saying that he was leaving but as yet no deal has been done.

Either way, taking both stories into account, this does sound like one of the more credible transfer rumours. Boateng is primarily a central defender, but can also ply his trade in the full-back positions, and this is probably where he will be competing for a place at City. If he signs, then City fans will be hoping he can continue our successful signings from Hamburg - Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong. As these two prove, there is far less a risk when signing a player from the Bundesliga, than from the other major European leagues, as it is probably the closest in style to the Premier League - and the players are definitely up to the physical demands presented by our game.

At 21, this would be a signing for the future too and would put him in direct competition with our own promising defenders - principally Micah Richards. The condition always applied to any doubts regarding Micah's development has always been that "he is still young" and, whilst I do think there is still time for him to become the player he has always threatened to be, signing a player of the same age and the same position will at least put his future in doubt.

Mancini will be looking to provide top quality competition for every position in the squad if we are to qualify for the Champions League. The question remains though whether he would see Micah as one of the options. Mancini already seems to favour Zabaleta to Micah - a player Mancini has also quoted as being naturally a midfielder. So, if Micah is second to a midfielder now, will he remain in second-place when more competition arrives.

Obviously competition and determination could be what Micah needs to spur himself on and it will be down to him to stay mentally strong in the face of what may seem to be arriving replacements. He has all the physical attributes to succeed as a defender, so the natural maturing process should see him improve his mental attributes and return him to the international fold. But as there are bound to be other offers on the table (he was linked with Tottenham earlier this week), it will be down to him whether he achieves this at City or elsewhere.