Tévez and Barry linked again

Another Saturday night, another David Harrison exclusive to mull over. This time it's a transfer rumour, and the targets are Carlos Tévez (again), and a new one - Gareth Barry. Harrison says we're likely to land both of them, for a combined fee of £32million. While both players have other suitors (Liverpool in both cases, plus other teams in each) our financial clout could see us outbid all competition:

Hughes is in the Middle East to talk about transfer targets with City's Abu Dhabi owners and has made it clear he sees Tevez as vital to the club.

City are much further down the road with Tevez than Barry. But they are confident their financial clout will get them the Aston Villa captain.

I think these would both be absolutely fantastic buys - the type which could well see us challenging Aston Villa and Everton next season. I think we've got a good chance with Tévez, but I'm very sceptical about Barry. Isn't the whole point of the Barry transfer saga that he wants Champions League football? And then there's the general point that transfer rumours, fun as they are, are more often rubbish than not. But they're still fun to read.