A Bola: MCFC bid €35m for Luiz

The Portuguese newspaper A Bola has reported this morning that City have bid €35million (£29.2m) for Benfica's Brazilian defender David Luiz. This is an improvement on our initial bid of €32m (£26.7m), and comes with an offer of €3m per year in wages (£48k/week.)

We've been linked with Luiz for a while, and the British press reported our first bid as being either £21.5m or £25m. Either way, this is a significant improvement on that and apparently Benfica President Luis Filipe Vieira is tempted by the money on offer. The fact that the A Bola headline says that it is an 'act of (financial) madness' shows how big our offer looks in Lisbon.

Luiz is certainly very highly thought of. I caught a few Benfica games on television last year and he impressed. He might look like Carles Puyol but with the ball at his feet he's much more of a Gerard Piqué. To quote Tor-Kristian Karlsen (acclaimed former scout and technical director), 'he's so good with the ball he makes Rio Ferdinand look like Robocop', and, moreover, he would be the perfect complement for Jérôme Boateng. He had previously said of Luiz:

amazing coup by man city if they land david luiz. wonderful def; elegant, xlnt on the ball, pacey, versatile, commanding. he's got it all

>High praise. While there are transfers I'm less enthusiastic about - James Milner, mainly - this is not one of them. I'm not a fan of Joleon Lescott or Kolo Touré and I'm not particularly attached to either of them too. If we were to bring Luiz in ahead of them I would be delighted.

(Hat tips, Ben Lyttleton, Simon Curtis)

Papers: €25m Luiz bid

A continuation of a pre-existing rumour in today's papers: a bid for Benfica's Brazilian defender David Luiz. Jason Burt writes in the Telegraph that we are to bid €25m (£21.5m), to steal him away from the also-interested Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona. There's a multi-author story in the Daily Mail saying that our offer is £25million.

We've heard this one a few weeks ago. It certainly fits with what I'm calling the 'Boateng plan' (but which could also be dubbed the 'Adam Johnson plan') - he is the right age, at 23, with a successful record in club football to date, European experience and the hunger and ambition to do something special at City; a safer bet than relying on players with names already made.

And David Luiz would be a good fit at City too. Even with Jérôme Boateng we could well go for another defender, given Luiz's ability to play left-back - he could well be first choice there - and the fact that Boateng and Kompany could themselves be needed in other positions. Plus Luiz is a good player. I've seen him a few times this season for Benfica and while I've only really had eyes for Ángel Di María, Luiz has looked quick, powerful and composed. Tor-Kristian Karlsen, scout and transfer expert, certainly rates him. He has written on Twitter that Luiz is 'the player to buy' from Benfica, as he's ready for the EPL. Since then he has written that Luiz is:

better in the centre, but does a good job at left-back despite being right footed. the main attraction are the playing skills.

And:

amazing coup by man city if they land david luiz. wonderful def; elegant, xlnt on the ball, pacey, versatile, commanding. he's got it all

And then on a Luiz/Boateng comparison:

boateng more of a classical 'stopper', david more classy and refined. good signings.

They both sound very good. Let's hope we see one or both at City soon.

Hamšík, Balotelli, Luiz all linked

I've written before about the 'Boateng plan', and how our long interests would be best served by the recruitment of players who are young, hungry and who would like to win things with City - rather than those players falling under 'the Torres plan.' The last few days have seen transfer rumours suggesting that Mancini and the Player Acquisition Group feel this too. We have been linked with moves for 22 year old Marek Hamšík, 19 year old Mario Balotelli and 23 year old David Luiz.

First Oliver Kay wrote in The Times of Hamšík and Balotelli:

After several weeks of discussions over his transfer strategy with the club’s hierarchy, Roberto Mancini, the City manager, has urged his board to proceed with bids for Hamsik and Balotelli as he looks to reinforce a squad that narrowly missed out on a top-four finish in the Barclays Premier League.

The challenge for Mancini will be in convincing the players that they can fulfil their ambitions with City. after the club’s failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Then there was this by Stuart Brennan in the Manchester Evening News regarding Luiz:

The Blues have been tracking the 6ft 2ins Benfica star for some time, and face stiff competition from Real Madrid and Barcelona.

But manager Roberto Mancini has identified the 23-year-old as a major star of the future - and he likes the fact that Luiz, principally a central defender, is also comfortable at left-back and as a defensive midfielder.

These three are all plausible: they fit into the strategy laid out in the Jérôme Boateng transfer - young, talented, playing for a good side in a good foreign league. It's a nice change from the Hughes approach of established Premier League stars, and not just from a novelty perspective either.

To take the three rumours one by one: I haven't seen Hamšík play too much but he's certainly very highly rated. He is a goalscoring midfielder, which is what we need - Gabriele Marcotti has said he could be the new Frank Lampard. I think we might struggle to tempt him though. He will be playing Europa League football with Napoli next season, and apparently could soon agree a new contract. But if he doesn't there is an opening there.

Balotelli is a move that makes sense. He has fallen out with almost everyone at Inter, having enjoyed a warm-enough relationship with Roberto Mancini before Mourinho's arrival. A summer departure is likely. His agent has since denied that he might move to City, but this is a fairly resilient rumour. I'm not very enthusiastic about this move. He's clearly talented, but also troubled. This is not what we need right now. That's not to say that it won't happen, though.

Finally Luiz. He looks very good when I've seen him; he's big, quick, and technically excellent. But if he came to City he would be denying himself Champions League football next season, something he earnt by winning the Liga Sagres this year. Had we got fourth it might just have been plausible. Not anymore though.