Ansaldi linked again

This story - which I thought was dead - is back again. Rubin Kazan's sporting director Mukhsin Mukhamadiev has said:

'It's not just a rumour,' admitted Mukhamadiev. 'The English really do have their eyes on Ansaldi, but they are not alone. Today there are several major European clubs interested in his services.

'But it is not in Rubin's plans to sell Ansaldi. He has a contract with the club and we are counting on him for the new season.'

I'm bored of this now.

Mancini: No Ansaldi move

We should all calm down about this one:

When asked if he was interested in Ansaldi, he replied:"No, in that position we have Bridge.

"In seven days he will have recovered."

Four left backs is a bit much.

Next up: Ansaldi?

Having made our first purchase of the Mancini era (albeit on loan), it looks like we could be close to making our second: Rubin Kazan's Cristian Ansaldi.

This has been run in the News of the World a few times, but yesterday it was mentioned in Russian newspaper Sport Express, where an article claimed that a £6m fee had been agreed between MCFC and Rubin Kazan. 'Window Watch' in The Times this morning said that we were 'on the verge' of a £4m deal. It's difficult to know where to separate genuine reporting from the echo chamber effect that defines so many transfer rumours in the press.

And it's particularly difficult because we were first linked to Ansaldi when Hughes was still in charge. Of course it's possible that he's a favourite of both Hughes and Mancini, but it's more likely - presuming, that is, that the rumours are true - that Football Administration Officer Brian Marwood is leading the line on this one. We could even be heading for a repeat of the Jô farce: a City manager sees a South American player in the Russian Premier League that he likes, he suggests that the owner buys said player, the owner sacks the manager but then buys the player anyway, as a welcoming gift for the new boss. Given how well this model of doing tranfers worked in summer 2008, we may as well give it another shot.

While I have no idea whether we will buy Ansaldi or not, I did some research on him as a player. FourFourTwo magazine has a section reporting on football from the former Soviet Union called Never Mind the Bolsheviks. On Twitter, I asked their eastern bloc football expert about Ansaldi and he replied:

He’s a solid left-back with good pace who likes to get forward & support the attack. Ansaldi can also operate as a winger.

Sounds ok. Not sure if we need four left backs though.

Ansaldi linked again

Rubin Kazan's Argentine full-back Cristian Ansaldi is linked with us again in today's News of the World:

The former Newell's Old Boys defender, 23, has been quickly targeted by Mancini as a left-back who can also play on the wing and he will be expected to compete with Wayne Bridge, who has struggled for form and fitness in recent months. The move underlines City's aims to target squad players in this window instead of going for superstar names like Brazilian ace Kaka.

This looks like a rehash of an identical story three weeks ago.

City linked with Cristian Ansaldi

I haven't heard of him either:

The Argentine left-back, 22, plays for Russian side Rubin Kazan and has impressed during a Champions League campaign that included a shock win at Barcelona.

Hughes received excellent reports on Ansaldi from his scouts and is ready to move before the youngster is snapped up by Real Madrid or Juventus.

All I know of any interest is that Rubin Kazan won the Russian Premier League in both 2008 and 2009. I'm thrilled, though, at the prospect of our signing someone I haven't seen play before.