Vieira signs

On a six month loan deal.

It's an interesting one, certainly. The one thing clear to me in recent weeks is how much of a learning process this is for all of us: for the manager, for the players and for the fans. This isn't like Mark Hughes coming from Blackburn Rovers eighteen months ago - where we knew what he expect and he was aware of the City players. Therefore, everything Mancini does is going to be subject to real scrutiny as we try to figure what sort of a manager he is - what players he likes, which system he prefers, his strengths and weaknesses.

His first signing is naturally going to be a big part of that. But the more you look at Patrick Vieira - his trophy haul, his experience at the top end of the Premier League, his athleticism, his winning mentality - the more it looks like a Mark Hughes signing. A few years older than most outfield players Hughes signed, yes, but by no means a radical departure from the Hughes approach. Look at what Mancini said:

"Patrick is a world class midfielder with a winner's mentality and will fit into this group very well," he told the club's official website.

"He knows me and my staff well, and importantly he also knows what the Premier League is all about.

"He will not need much time to settle in.

"Patrick is one of the great players of this era with almost every honour in the game against his name."

It might as well have been Hughes talking.

So what does this tell us about Mancini? Not much, really. It's only one data point. If our next signing is - I don't know - Guti, then we will see that Mancini places a high value on recruiting experienced, classy midfielders. But if it is - as seems likely - Cristian Ansaldi - then we will be back to square one. Clearly the experience factor is important here, as is the winning attitude. I'm not going to write too much about possible systems including Vieira - I'll do that over the weekend - but I'd be surprised if he sits on the bench too much.

The one gap he might fill, though, is leadership. I'm ambivalent about Kolo Touré as a captain, but I certainly do not rate him as a captain. My hunch is that Hughes wanted Gareth Barry to wear the armband but was underwhelmed by his leadership when he arrived, did not think that Craig Bellamy or Nigel de Jong were guaranteed starters (which they weren't, at the start of the season), and so chose Kolo over Shay Given. (It says a lot that in a fractious Arsenal dressing room Arsene Wenger did not often trust Touré with the role). And I think it was a bad decision: Touré looks quiet on the pitch and rarely leads by example. He has none of the authority of a John Terry or Steven Gerrard, not even close. I hope that Mancini recognises this, and while I would be quite happy for the job to go to anyone mentioned above, I would not be surprised if it is Vieira.