Manchester City on a spending spree
There is no stopping Manchester City when it comes spending some real hard cash. Having already signed some truly talented players this season, Manchester City is hungry for more. During the last season, Real Madrid signed almost all the top players available to them which have considerably weakened a number of other teams in Europe.
It started off from Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure from Manchester United which led to the Red Devils finishing at the second place in the EPL. Along with that, Manchester United could only win the Carling Cup. Liverpool suffered greatly following Xabi Alonso’s departure to the Los Blancos as they finished at the seventh position in the league. Other players like Kaka, Benzema and Granero were key players to their side, and their former clubs suffered a lot following their departure.
With the upcoming season, Manchester City is getting ready to turn things around. They are going to be the new Real Madrid in terms of spending money. Since manager’s Roberto Mancini’s arrival at the club in January, City has spent 85 million pounds, while gaining only 3 million from player sales. Jerome Boateng, David Silva, Yaya Toure and Aleksander Kolarov are the new “Citizens” for this season, and Mancini is still expecting to attract more players to the club. The Italian coach is trying to grab hold of Fernando Torres, Mario Balotelli and James Milner. Rumours suggest that two out of the three are highly likely to join the club by the end of the transfer window. The clubs spending has catapulted their odds from 30/1 to a third favourite 6/1.
Torres’ departure from Liverpool seems imminent and if that happens, Captain Steven Gerrard is to follow the Spaniard. Both of them may well join Manchester City as the club promises to win titles this season. James Milner has already expressed his wish to join his English midfield partner Gareth Barry at Eastlands, and would be a welcome signing for Manchester City. Reports suggest that the Italian striker Mario Balotelli is all set to join the club, and an initial fee of around 25 million has been agreed between the two parties. There are some complications however, and if the deal fails, City would look to sign Wolfsberg goal machine, Edin Dzeko.
But one thing is for sure, within the coming month, a lot of players would be up for sale around Manchester. The new premier league rules state that all premier league clubs are allowed a 25 man squad which should be announced by the 1st of September. Manchester City would therefore have to sell 13 of its players from its current squad to reach 25. City would also have to keep 8 home grown players in the squad as well and therefore need to be careful as to who they sign.
The players who are most probable to be axed are Jo, Ireland, Bellamy, Gonzalez, Caciedo, Santa Cruz, Weiss, Robinho and perhaps Micah Richards. This creates places for the likes of Torres and Milner and their natives clubs should think of selling their players at a higher price and sign two or three players from the price of one. The lot up for sale from City can be used as a make weight to sign Milner and Torres, and both Hodgson and O’Neill should be looking into the option.
In the nutshell, Manchester City currently dominates the market, and every premier league club has its eyes set on the high spending club. Their rivals Manchester United are aware of the monster in the neighbourhood, and considering a few more signings than usual. Their activity in the transfer market has led to inflated prices for all other European clubs, leading to sparse signings elsewhere. The figure of 85 million may well reach 110 million by the end of July, as Milner, Torres or Balotelli are ready to join the club. Manchester City is a strong title contender this season and is not to be taken lightly. The question remains whether the top players will combine together and actually win the trophy is another question. They play their opening match of the season against Tottenham Hotspurs, and City would be looking to make a point by establishing itself as one of the top clubs in Europe.
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