Transfer Round-up
In a delightful paradox, straight after Mancini had claimed he is irritated with the constant deluge of players who are linked with us, the dominant team on the rumour mill is City. Whether this is the media's revenge for Mancini trying to dampen their main source of intrigue outside the World Cup - "who are City going for now?" - or a return to more established sources as City up their campaign to settle transfers before the World Cup is impossible to know.
Even the papers are confused about Edin Dzeko. Despite many of them reporting that City were going to wait until the minimum fee release clause had expired in order to strike a deal, when that deadline passed on Monday, they were prompted to call an end to the deal after Wolfsburg's general manager said:
"The deadline within which a transfer of Edin Dzeko would have been possible this year has now elapsed. We are very happy that this period of uncertainty is over. He is a player of exceptional quality, who wouldn't have been easy for us to replace. We have now some planning security for the coming campaign and we can work solidly on the rest of the squad details for the new season."
But then reports in this morning's Daily Mail suggested City had secured a shock £36m deal for the Bosnian striker. If this is true, then the main shock there is that City have waited to avoid the minimum fee release clause, £34m, only to pay two million more.
According to Barcelona-based newspaper Sport, Ibrahimovic could be joining him after City tested the waters with a €35m bid - although Barca would want to see more of a return on the whopping €66m deal they struck with Inter last summer. I have blogged on the likelihood, or otherwise, of this move before.
Then there is Maicon - the man Mancini brought to Inter from Monaco and widely considered one of the best right-backs in the world. Allegedly Mancini's top summer target, according to today's rumours - City would have some way to go to compete with the lure of Mourinho and Real Madrid. City do lack an attacking option from full-back and Maicon would certainly fulfil that role, but if such a move were possible then it would surely spell the end of Micah Richards' time at the club.
Apart from Jerome Boateng, the only genuinely confirmed bid of the summer has been for James Milner, and early signs suggest he would be open to a move - which surprises me somewhat. The early speculation was that he would be sticking with O'Neill if he were to stay at Villa and a deal would not be done if City did not make Champions League. Yet talks with O'Neill and the owner have failed to convince Milner to confirm his intentions and reports suggest Villa would sell if their £30m valuation is met. This suggests City's 'project' ethos is still attractive to players, despite the lack of Champions League, and Milner would see a brighter future for City than for Villa. Speaking on Radio Five Live last night, Pat Nevin described Milner as the equal of Lampard and Gerrard, and being six years their junior, City could be tempted to meet Villa's valuation - especially if wantaway players, such as Nedum, could be thrown into the deal.
Roberto Mancini is right though by saying the following:
"I keep reading that I am going to sign lots of players in the summer and am also going to sell lots of players. This is not true, and I am surprised because people know that I already have a very strong squad at Manchester City."
City were close to achieving fourth last season with a completely new group of players, in a squad that suffered the disruption of a change of management mid-season. The stability of having a pre-season alone should be enough to make us stronger for next season's campaign. The squad does need a bit of maintenance, but there is no longer need for a complete overhaul. With a few tweaks to creative areas in particular, we should be ready for a stronger assault on the top four.
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