With the window now open, and bags of cash lying around Eastlands, what sort of moves can we expect from Manchester City during this month's transfer period?
When Roman Abramovich took over at Chelsea, few would have imagined that in 2011, the London club would not be the main spending power in the transfer windows, but Sheikh Mansour changed a lot of things when he took over at Manchester City, flooding the transfer market with the kind of millions that have made £50m and £35m deals for strikers in the last year a reality, as opposed to the perversity they should be. What it means now is that Manchester City can effectively buy whoever they want, provided those players are buyable and willing to play for the club - a pool which has gotten vastly bigger since they found wealth beyond anyone's wildest dreams, and qualified for the prestigious Champions League. So far this season, with key acquisitions coming in during the summer, and Premiership experience making those already on the books a better prospect all round, City have enjoyed an impressive time, currently sitting top of the league with exactly the same record as city rivals United and with a goal difference of five more than the Reds. But City are not invincible. At times this season, they have looked frail at the back, and the difficulty with having a team packed with so-called superstars is that as soon as anything looks slightly off, it becomes a damn sight easier to push accusatory fingers at the squad dynamic, and how it is supposedly difficult to juggle so many egos. And even more crucially, Mancini will have to explain every single dropped point against the context of how much money he has spent building the team that lost them. Many more losses like the disappointment at the Stadium of Light, and Man City will struggle to justify their tag as Champions Elect. The long and short of it is that any moves that Mancini makes in this, or indeed any window will be scrutinized arguably more than any other manager in the Premiership, regardless of how easy some might say it is for Mancini to simply build a team of on-field supermen. So, if he does go out into the market, the moves have to be smart, and they have to be timely.
What They Need
Further defensive quality is needed if Mancini wishes to compete on the continent, but that may not be needed until the summer, unless someone becomes available. Gary Cahill looks to be one of the best available talents, but he is seemingly off to Chelsea, and there are few top clubs in Europe who will look kindly on the prospect of losing their defensive strength in the middle of the season, regardless of how much City can throw at the deal, because those sort of deals carry their own problems. As Newcastle found when Andy Carroll went to Liverpool for £35m, as soon as the next club in the transactional ladder finds out exactly how much the club has to spend, every price tag magically seems to inflate. Mancini may choose to bring in a replacement for Carlos Tevez, but with Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli on the books, as well as a raft of attacking midfielders, the need is not entirely pressing at the minute. And strikers of the calibre expected at Eastlands these days don't come cheap, even for a club with more money than most of their league rivals put together. In truth, stability will be key for City, and keeping to the same player pool will work towards that, though Mancini will always have a job on his hands keeping everyone happy and convincing the talents who are forced to sit on his bench when they could be playing first team elsewhere that football is a squad game. If the Carlos Tevez affair, and recent comments from Wayne Bridge are to be believed, it's not always a winning battle. So, even though they have the finances, City would do well not to invest heavily this month, unless it is on a "final piece of the puzzle" type of player. If Mancini and the owners wish to see the team battle for the Championship until the end of the season, they must keep faith with the players currently on the books, and on the manager's ability to get the best out of a stable stock of players.
Outgoing?
Mancini needs to get rid of Wayne Bridge and Carlos Tevez, ideally for money, and to generally trim the fat. Those two players are completely unneeded - in Bridge's case because he isn't up to scratch (in Mancini's eyes at least), and in Tevez's because he is a wildcard and something of a toxic presence as long as he believes himself to be bigger than the club. So we can expect both to move on this month, as well as Nedum Onuoha, who appears to have run out of time to break into the first team in the same way that Micah Richards managed. Young Montenegrin centre-back Stefan Savic is currently attracting attention from the loan market, with a number of clubs in need of defensive cover and quality, and Mancini might well see the remainder of the season as a good opportunity for him to pick up some top-flight experience before he is blooded in the first team. If there is to be any other outgoing player from what is a relatively small squad, then it may well be Adam Johnson, who has a massive number of admirers within the league and who could walk into any other team. He won't go cheaply, though perhaps a loan deal would work best for both City and any club lucky enough to get the chance to take Johnson. So, City fans, who would you like to see brought in to the club this month, and who deserves to leave? Let us know below.