Who Will Manchester City Purchase This January (12/3/08)
Manchester
City clearly is going to show the financial strength of its owners, the
Abu Dhabi Group, this January. In fact the owners even came out by
saying that they want to acquire one world-class superstar during the
next transfer period. However the question is who do they realistically
have a chance getting? Clearly guys like Lionel Messi, Cristiano
Ronaldo, and Kaka are not going to be lured over no matter what price
offered. Here I am going to analyze some of their rumored targets.
Many
rumors have been coming linking Manchester City with forwards. Lukas
Podolski seemed like he was on his way out from Bayern Munich and headed
towards Manchester City until tonight when Bayern Munich chairman
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stated that Podolski was staying at least until
the end of the season. David Villa's name has come up once again even
though he has a contract at Valencia until 2014. The reason for these
rumors is the serious financial situation taking place at Valencia which
might end up forcing them to sell their prized forward if the price is
high enough. Ricardo Oliveira of Real Zaragoza was linked with
Manchester City last week but although he is a very talented forward, I
just don't see him as a big name forward that Mark Hughes would like to
bring in. Luis Fabiano has been unhappy at Sevilla and even left
practice due to a quarrel with the head coach. Manchester City seems
interested in Fabiano and is supposedly planning to bid £20million for
the forward who scored 24 goals last season in La Liga. The last forward
being linked is in my opinion Mark Hughes' favorite. This is
Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz who stayed with Blackburn this summer
despite great interest from other clubs. However the rumor is that he is
unhappy at Blackburn and is going to request a transfer. Unless I see a
statement saying that this rumor is false then I seriously think Roque
Santa Cruz is the man for Manchester City. Chelsea this summer
supposedly bid £40million for the Paraguay international but was turned
down. However with Chelsea not interested in signing anyone, I see
Manchester City being able to offer a lower price due to less
competition.
Defenders and goalkeeper are also being linked with
moves to Manchester City in January. City has been linked with only two
goalkeepers but they are two of the best in the world. Juventus'
Gianluigi Buffon was supposedly offered a large bid and contract that he
turned down. The same goes for Iker Casillas whom Manchester City
supposedly bid £129million for. Wayne Bridge has drawn interest from
Mark Hughes but Chelsea doesn't seem intent on selling him. The rumor is
they were so angry that City stole Robinho from under their noses that
they didn't want to deal their defender to them. Michael Turner of Hull
City was linked with Manchester City however I don't see Hull making any
major changes especially since they have performed above expectations
this season after being promoted. Ivory Coast international Kolo Toure
was linked with City but I don't see Arsenal selling any of their
defenders especially since at times, due to injuries and off-field
incidents, they were forced to use Djourou and Silvestre at the center
of the defense. Fabio Grosso is an interesting name being linked with
Manchester City today as City are supposedly planning on bidding EUR7
million for the Olympique Lyonnais defender. Of all these names I see
Grosso being the most realistic but even then I don't think it will
happen. As for midfielders the only name that was linked with Manchester
City was Lassana Diarra but his sprained ankle has been a bump in the
road. If he gets back from injury quickly and continues playing at a
high quality, then I see Manchester City making a serious push for him.
After
naming all these players that were linked with Manchester City, I see
two realistic choices. I see Roque Santa Cruz finally moving towards
Manchester City and I see Lassana Diarra joining if he can get healthy
quickly. The main obstacles for these two players are whether their
managers are willing to sell them. If they are willing, then these two
are as good as signed.
