First there's Jason Burt claiming that we have bid £15m for West Ham's Valon Behrami:
Then a story from Shaun Custis saying that we are 'weighing up a swoop' for Middlesbrough's 22 year old winger Adam Johnson:The offer for the Swiss international will test the resolve of West Ham’s new owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, to hold on to one of their star players. However the co-chairmen may decide that, by cashing in on the 24 year-old, they may be able to provide extra funds to bolster Gianfranco Zola’s relegation-threatened squad.
West Ham have so far made it clear that Behrami, who was signed from Lazio for £5 million, on a five-year deal in July 2008, is not for sale.
City have asked the winger's agents about his situation, with Chelsea, Sunderland and Wolves also showing strong interest.
Johnson is out of contract in the summer and Sunderland had stolen a march on their rivals by getting an agreement in place with previous Boro boss Gareth Southgate.
The 18-year-old forward’s contact expires in the summer and he suddenly finds himself the centre of attention after scoring five goals in five games. His father, who also acts as his agent, has received a big money offer from City.
And MailOnline put up a story earlier, a translation of a piece from Madrid daily AS about our move for Canales:
City sent technical director Mike Rigg and chief financial officer Graham Wallace for talks in Santander on Thursday with Racing president Francisco Pernia and his father Gelo Canales.
Gelo, who acts as his son's agent, has already visited City, as well as holding talks in England with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.
It's becoming clear that the club hierarchy are hoping to move to an Arsenal-inspired recruitment policy, buying the best young talent around. Adam Johnson and Sergio Canales certainly fit into this. I've said it before but I don't think it's going to work at City. We might well end up buying some very talented youngsters, but I'd be surprised if they ever get the gametime necessary for them to become big stars.
Look at Fàbregas. He was certainly a talented 16 year old when he arrived at Arsenal. But the reason he's so brilliant a player now is because his talent was trusted. He played 46 games in 2004/05 (aged 17), 50 games in 2005/06 (aged 18), 54 games in 2006/07 (aged 19), 44 games in 2007/08 (aged 20) etc etc etc. If we did buy Canales I'm not convinced that he would play anywhere near enough to develop as he could. Anyway, it looks like he's going to Real Madrid so in this case it's a moot point.
Behrami is slightly different. He's been in England a year and a half now, and while he looks good (when fit) I'm sceptical as to whether we need another midfielder of good Premier League standard. Big money improvements are one thing, but a £15m purchase who isn't obviously better than what we've got is less smart.
So in brief I'm not sure if any of these will come off.
2 comments:
Our transfer priorities have to be:
1) Decent left-back to fight it out with Bridge
2) Wingers/wide midfielders: We've got Bellamy, SWP and Petrov who are all good choices to play wide (not even going to bother counting Robinho), but the latter two are inconsistent. We need another option there, especially if Mancini wants to play 4-4-2.
None of the above mentioned transfers fit into those categories... except for Johnson who I think would be an excellent additional option.
Well, as to whether it will work or not depends on a few things.
Firstly, the willingness of the manager to blood youngsters, tolerate their mistakes and encourage them to learn. On this front, it's clear that Mancio is more willing than Hughes - while injuries and absences have undoubtedly forced Mancio's hand, there is no way that Hughes would have started Boyata in the CC semi. I would also note that Vladi Weiss was given his first, and only, first team start by Mancio, not Hughes.
Secondly, as you rightly state, the culture of the club comes into play. Here also there is room for hope. Our academy essentially kept the club afloat over the last 10 years, and there is now a tradition (unlike at Chelsea or Liverpool) of youngsters coming through. I don't think that has been totally wiped out by the takeover - Richards, Ireland and SWP are all important members of the squad, and Joe Hart is clearly still valued.
I am confident that, provided the board choose the right manager, this approach can work. Hughes wasn't that man, but maybe Mancio is.
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