Roberto Mancini’s bid to bring Alexis Sanchez has stalled, but Arsenal duo Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri are expected to join Carlos Tevez, who’s staying at Eastlands
There is no doubt that Mancini has, at times, been frustrated by the slack pace of the transfer market this summer.
He hoped to get a deal for Udinese winger Alexis Sanchez tied up quickly after achieving the twin targets of winning a trophy and qualifying for the Champions League.
But Sanchez’s repeatedly stated desire to go to Barcelona has seen the manager’s hopes hit the buffers, and he has switched his attention to Fiorentina’s young winger Alessio Cerci.
At the same time, the City boss is also working on strengthening his defence. A deal to bring in 20-year-old centre-back Stefan Savic from Partizan Belgrade is in the pipeline, while Gael Clichy’s arrival is imminent.
Clichy will be City’s first summer signing this week when he puts pen to paper on a £7million move from Arsenal.
The Frenchman will, the manager hopes, provide a solution to the left-back problem that has dogged a succession of Blues bosses.
Mancini doesn’t plan to stop there, though. He wants a striker – although he has given out mixed messages over the past week over just how interested he is in Napoli’s Argentinian forward, Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Reading between the lines, it would appear that Mancini is a fan of Lavezzi, but believes he is overpriced at £26m. Lavezzi’s Uruguayan club-mate Edinson Cavani remains an alternative possibility.
And then there is the puzzle of Samir Nasri. The Blues have, up until now, been outsiders in the race for the French midfielder.
And yet United boss Sir Alex Ferguson indicated over the weekend that he thinks that Nasri will go to Eastlands. Mancini, for his part, has
suggested a deal could be done.
If it was, then it would represent the most remarkable twist in this summer’s transfer market.
Transfers Out
Even without any new signings, the City boss has a first-team squad of 30 senior over-21 players to crunch down to 25 before he submits his squad list to the Premier League on September 1.
Some may prove easier to move on than others. Shaun Wright-Phillips has indicated that he is ready to go – and take a pay cut to ease a deal – with Wigan chairman Dave Whelan confirming an interest over the weekend.
Craig Bellamy has also sent out the message that he will take a drop in wages to move elsewhere, with Celtic joining Everton and Cardiff in keeping an eye on the striker.
Felipe Caicedo is off to pastures new after a successful season on loan in Spain with Levante, while defender Nedum Onuoha should have little
trouble finding a new Premier League club after a good season on loan at Sunderland.
Shay Given – a player Mancini would rather hold on to – is also on his way, with Aston Villa ready to offer City £5m and the keeper a crack at regular
first-team football.
Out-of-favour left-back Wayne Bridge has been the subject of tentative interest from Newcastle, but no acceptable offers have come in for Roque Santa Cruz, while Brazilian striker Jo faces the prospect of seeing out the final year of his City contract on the Eastlands sidelines.
And while there has been plenty of interest in Emmanuel Adebayor – from Paris Saint Germain, Zenit St Petersburg and Blackburn – the striker only has eyes for Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, who won’t give City anything near the £12m they want for him.
Challenges
Mancini faces a challenge in keeping Carlos Tevez happy this coming season, although at least the striker is staying put.
The Blues will have to make do without last season’s top scorer – as well as the versatile Pablo Zabaleta – for the whole of pre-season due to international commitments with Argentina at the Copa America.
Tevez, who submitted and then withdrew a transfer request in December, knocked back a move to Juventus in May, and Mancini has claimed that the striker could have gone to Inter Milan in a swap deal with Samuel Eto’o.
City officials have distanced themselves from that story, indicating that Cameroon striker Eto’o was not on their radar this summer after attempts to sign him from Barcelona fell through two years ago.
Mancini said: “Yes, of course Tevez will stay, he is a fantastic player.
“There was talk of an exchange with Eto’o but Inter did not want to sell.”
Miscellaneous
One big test for Mancini this season will be combining the demands of domestic football with the Champions League.
While he managed to win three Serie A titles during his four years at Inter Milan, Europe’s top club competition proved a tougher nut to crack.His first bid to do so at Eastlands has not been helped by a rather unkind fixture list.The Blues will play away from home immediately after every one of their six Champions League group stage games.Mancini, though, is not a man for excuses. “I don’t want to make a guest appearance in the Champions League,” he said. “I want to show we are there on merit and to be leaders in the competition.”
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