RSC out for a month

Bad news - Rocky's out for a while. Best get used to seeing Benjani leading the line.

Martin Samuel on Tévez

It's too easy to blame our current malaise on bad defending. It's certainly a factor, but the responsibility does not lie with the defenders alone. Martin Samuel writes today that Carlos Tévez is as much to blame as anyone:

This profligacy — and Tevez is not alone — is now having a serious impact on Manchester City’s season. Failing to win a league game in two months cannot be airily dismissed, even if all matches in that time have been drawn.

City have taken seven points from the last 21. The purchase of a £32m striker — indeed of a strike force costing substantially more than £100m by the time Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz are included — is supposed to insure against such streaks.

City believed they were buying efficiency, forwards capable of deciding matches against inferior opposition, the way Fernando Torres does for Liverpool or Didier Drogba for Chelsea.

This recent run has largely pitted City against mediocrity, but Tevez is the greatest disappointment. He has failed to score in 90 minutes against Fulham, Birmingham City and Hull, 83 minutes against Wigan Athletic and 73 minutes against Burnley.

It's always pleasing to see writers as good as Martin Samuel expressing thoughts that you already held. Because this is something that troubles me more and more. If you think that the Lescott-Touré partnership is overpriced, underperforming and generally dysfunctional, then what can you possibly make of the Tévez-Adebayor partnership? Of the seven draws the two most frustrating have been Burnley and Hull City. And while defensive errors were responsible for the equalisers we conceded both times, that does not make the defenders the sole blame-bearers.

Given our possession and chances we should never have been 1-0 up against Hull after 82 minutes, just as we should never have been 3-2 up against Burnley on 88 minutes. In both matches we ought to have been far off in the distance, disappearing over the horizon. I do not want to excuse the mistakes of the defence, but our taking all three points should not have been at the mercy of such occurences. And the guilty parties are clearly our two big money centre forwards. It is immensely disheartening how far we have regressed in this field this season. Last year at home we beat Hull City 5-1, Stoke City 3-0, Portsmouth 6-0, Blackburn 3-1 and West Brom 4-2. We were abject on the road but at least we could be confident of giving bad teams a good beating when they came to Eastlands. But this year we can't even do that! Felipe Caicedo was never going to be Marco van Basten but at least he could score tap-ins in easy games. Tévez missed two dream chances against Burnley when the score was 3-2.

The sooner Roque Santa Cruz gets fit the better. At least then there will be some pressure on the current incumbents.

MJ back from the dead

Well, in a sense. City's prodigal son played 45 minutes for the reserves today, as did the £18m man Roque Santa Cruz. It was a behind-closed-doors match against Wrexham, as reported by the invaluable Gavin Cooper:

With the Manchester Senior Cup game being postponed and the uncertainty of next week's Premier Reserve league game happening on its scheduled date due to Liverpool's Champions League commitments the need to arrange a game for Roque Santa Cruz and Michael Johnson was quite important and so due to Mark Hughes' close links with Dean Saunders it was a logical solution to arranging a game at quite short notice.

City's goals came from Jack Redshaw and a brace from young Slovakian Robbie Mak who also set the other goal up as well. As the scoreline shows however City did not have it all their own way as Wrexham certainly gave City a good game.

Injury update

The three long-term absentees: Roque Santa Cruz, Michael Johnson and Vincent Kompany - are all looking better, according to the manager:

"Carlos got 90 minutes under his belt without a reaction, so we're pleased about that. In the next 10 days we should get Roque Santa Cruz and Michael Johnson back, fit & well,

"Roque won't be featuring against Fulham, but the likelihood is that he will play a part in the next game if we can get him involved.

"Michael Johnson is shaping up really well, and Vinnie Kompany is way ahead of his schedule so he is going to be an option for us very soon."

Bad news, though, for Nedum Onuoha:

"Unfortunately Nedum is injured at the moment," the boss confirmed. "He's pulled a thigh during the reserves game last week, he played around 55 minutes but felt a bit of discomfort. There is a tear in there and he will be out for three or four weeks."

Eto'o deal off

Big news from MCFC this evening: the pursuit of Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o has been called off. In a statement on the website Garry Cook has said:

“Samuel Eto'o is undoubtedly a fine footballer but the circumstances surrounding him were such that the deal could not be completed.

“We now feel the time is right to pursue other avenues and we have a clear and strategic transfer plan, which we continue to follow.”

Daniel Taylor claims in Saturday's Guardian that Eto'o failed to accept within a timeframe imposed by the club, which sounds very likely. The more Eto'o prevaricated, the more clear it became that his heart was never really in it - and why, if we're honest, would it be? - and so it makes sense for the club to cut the cord rather than to take on what would be a wholly mercenary player:

Mark Hughes, City's manager, had spoken of the need for "patience" over Eto'o but the player's prevarication – he led City to believe he was keen before appearing to change his mind and then declining to give a clear answer – was beginning to affect City's rebuilding plans. Eto'o wanted perhaps as much as 50% of the transfer fee as a signing-on fee, on the basis that he could leave Barcelona on a free next year.

It's for that reason that I am intensely relaxed about this. Yes, Eto'o is a centre forward of truly world class, the sort that we have never seen at City before. (Was Francis Lee, at his peak, nearly as good as Eusebio or Pelé?) But the sort of big money deal required to see him in blue - with up to £200,000 per week and that absurd signing-on fee - has always left me a bit cold. I was not distraught when we failed to sign Kaká, and I am not desperately enthused with the prospect of our signing John Terry.

I know that players like Eto'o, Kaká and Terry are steps beyond what we now have, and I know that we can't get to where we really want to be without them. But there's something about a mid-table club (tenth last year, with fifty points, let's not forget) signing the world's very best (a bracket into which Robinho does not fit) which does not sit that well with me. I don't want to see us assemble a team based solely on cash-lust (of course it plays a role in all of our signings to an extent, but in some more than others), and, in a quite genuine sense, I don't want to be seen to be taking the piss.

I am very excited about a potential Carlos Tévez - Roque Santa Cruz pairing next season. And the arrival of a centre forward better than either of them, but at the club for different reasons, is not something I could wholly and honestly celebrate. So the fact that we'll line up with that all South American pairing next year, with Bellamy and Bozhinov in reserve, is for me more than satisfactory. I know that we are now, in American, 0 for 2 in our attempts to attract a true galactico to Eastlands. But I don't mind. Tévez and RSC should give us a decent shot at sixth, and neither of them will ever be embarrassed to pull on the shirt.

Departures, ctd.

Despite what I just wrote about the departures of Hamann, Ball, Mills and Vassell, it is not his exit that is the most newsworthy this week - but that of Danny Sturridge to Chelsea.

This is more upsetting than it is surprising. The chaos in which MCFC was convulsed for most of 2008 up until the ADUG takeover meant that Sturridge was not offered the new contract he otherwise would have been, and when serious negotiations did start under Mark Hughes it was Sturridge and his representatives who were in a position of strength. And this position was used to present a series of ludicrous wage demands, which, coupled perhaps with a frustration to become a regular in the first team, pushed Sturridge towards his eventual separation from City.

It's obviously a huge disappointment. Sturridge is arguably the most talented youngster to come out of the Academy since Shaun Wright-Phillips (I think that Michael Johnson is the most gifted of them, ahead of even Stephen Ireland, not that it matters.) We've only seen glimpses of Sturridge's talent, but it's certainly there, and so the realisation that we will never see his flowering in a City shirt is difficult to take.

The strange thing about Sturridge's departure is just how anomalous it is. The last ten months have been the most positive and optimistic time to be a City fan in my lifetime. We've played rubbish for most of it (though that's nothing new), but the mood of the club is one of an inexorable journey to success. This bad news, then, runs counter to the good news that has been coming out of City since last September; an unlikely dark cloud in an otherwise clear blue sky.

But that is why we should be able to move on quickly from this. Imagine just how traumatic this would have been under Wardle's ownership, or even under Thaksin's. And then remember that we're now owned by neither, but by the richest men to ever invest in football. And think of how much better Santa Cruz and Tévez are going to be than any frontline that includes Danny Sturridge.

City confirm RSC signing

Done deal:

Roque Santa Cruz has finally renewed his successful working relationship with Mark Hughes by becoming the delighted Blues manager's second major signing of the summer at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Check out the link for a pretty cool picture of Santa Cruz in the new blue training top sitting alongside Garry Cook.

SSN: RSC having medical

News that will be of no surprise to anyone who has read the morning 'papers: it was reported at length that Santa Cruz would be having a medical today, and, well, their prediction has come true - because Sky Sports News is now reporting that Santa Cruz is currently undergoing his medical at City.

This ought to take some time - with Valeri Bozhinov and Craig Bellamy on the books it's not like we need another injury-prone striker. But it does sound like this rather interminable transfer saga will be successfully concluded today.

UPDATE: Henry Winter has just tweeted this:

If Santa Cruz joins City, it will confirm Hughes is completely in charge of transfers. Good. Cruz and Tevez could blend well. #mancity

As a big Henry Winter fan, I love it when he agrees with me. His tweeting is worth following; so much so that I'm thinking of starting a TLDORC Twitter stream.

SSN: £18m RSC fee agreed

Sky Sports News is reporting the same news that we read in this morning's Mail - that we've reached an agreement with Blackburn Rovers for a fee for Santa Cruz, of £18million. It's an awful lot of money for someone who's had one good season and has serious knee problems. It's also more money than ought to be spent on someone who won't start; suggesting that we won't get Eto'o and Tévez.

Progress on three fronts

With news that Santa Cruz is getting ever closer to City, and that Tévez is seriously considering our offer, we read in this morning's Telegraph that talks for Samuel Eto'o are progressing:

Garry Cook, City's executive chairman, and football administrator Brian Marwood held talks with their Barcelona counterparts earlier this week, but despite making progress towards an agreement, Barcelona have yet to accept City's offer, leaving the English club unable to talk terms directly with Eto'o.

Although reports of wage demands by Eto'o of close to £200,000-a-week after tax have been dismissed as "wildly exaggerated" by City sources, the club accept they are likely to have to make Eto'o the Premier League's top earner in order to persuade him to turn his back on Champions League football.

Could we actually get all three? It would give us the best choice of forwards for years - presuming Craig Bellamy is here as well - even better than in 1994/95 when we had Niall Quinn, Paul Walsh and Uwe Rösler to choose from. Seriously, this would be incredible.

Sunday's rumours

The perfect way to spend a Saturday evening; chewing over the next day's News of the World's many City-related rumours:

• First up: Liverpool are set to bid £5m for Micah Richards, providing that we get Glen Johnson. Arsenal are also interested in Richards, apparently. I'm still not convinced that Johnson's a serious target, but even if he isn't Richards ought not to be first choice next season.

• Next - Danny Sturridge may go to West Ham rather than Chelsea. This would suggest that his demands for first team football are as important as his wages. The only problem is that we're demanding a £10m 'development fee', which of course West Ham can't afford.

• Another move for Roque Santa Cruz is suggested - with a cut-price of £15million in recognition of his recent knee problems. RSC 'hopes to wrap up' the move 'this week.'

• A more glamarous striker linked with a move to City is Samuel Eto'o, who would apparently demand €1million/month from us - or £200,000/week.

• And finally - Chelsea are said to be interested in hijacking our move for Carlos Tévez, and are willing to pay the £30m fee and the £120k/week wages.
  

On the hunt for strikers

Hughes must have done a lot of media on Thursday, because there's all sorts of interesting things floating about. And there's quite a few stories in the Friday 'papers about our pursuit of a new, expensive, top quality centre forward.

Most focus is given to Hughes' comments on Roque Santa Cruz. Speaking about the long-time transfer target who has missed most of this season with injuries, he said:

"We have to make sure that any player we bring to the club is likely to be a success," Hughes said. "You look at all things when you bring in a player, and the injury record is one of those things. You have to do your due diligence; if you don't, then mistakes can be made. Our targets may well change because you can't put all your eggs in one basket. Roque was fit and strong for me in that first year when I was his manager [at Blackburn] and he played exceptionally well. He's a very talented player but thankfully he's not available when we play them on Saturday."

To me this sounds like a real cooling off. Roque Santa Cruz made sense as a signing last summer, and in January. But after a very quiet season, and with a summer window and bags of money to throw at this, he may no longer be the best we can do. I was surprised, then, to read Daniel Taylor's claim that RSC remains 'likely' to be 'the first piece of transfer business for City this summer.' Should Hughes' concerns over Santa Cruz's injury be too much, Taylor mentions Peter Crouch as a possible alternative.

Ian Herbert's take on the situation is rather different. He writes that Hughes' position on Santa Cruz 'remains unclear' due to the injury situation, which sounds closer to the mark. The other option Herbert talks up though, is at the opposite end of the market - another bid for David Villa:

An over-reliance on Craig Bellamy has already illustrated that another striker is Hughes' prime target. Barcelona's Thierry Henry is another in whom Cook has taken an active interest. But Villa, 27, fits the clean-cut image which seems to be among City's considerations in their pursuit of marquee names and also has the maturity which – Bellamy aside – the club's current collection of strikers lacks. City's biggest challenge would be persuading the player, a home-loving Spaniard who seems more disposed to joining Barcelona or Real, to sign. Silva, 23, an attacking midfielder capable of playing on either side of the pitch, may be a more promising prospect.

This is an immeasurably more attractive prospect. We know that Hughes tried to sign Villa (along with Valencia team mate David Silva) in January, but we walked away having been quoted a ludicrous price. There's no disputing that we can pay off a hefty chunk of Los Che's debt this summer in exchange for Villa. The problem, though, is the one we had with Kaká: How do you persuade a world class footballer to play for a mid-table side? We got lucky with Robinho - his discontent in Madrid was such that he was willing to take a chance on a move. But this summer Villa is likely to have offers from three elite clubs: Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona. And while he may just countenance leaving Spain to play for Chelsea, can he be persuaded to pull on a lighter shade of blue next season?

It's a question we're going to hear regarding quite a few players this summer.

RSC still wants out

One of the more interminable transfer sagas of recent years looks set for a summer revival:

"I have already told [Blackburn], and they know that before the transfer window closes I would like to continue my career at a bigger, more ambitious team," revealed the 27-year-old."

There's not too much point in speculating on this before we know firmly whether or not Mark Hughes will be the manager for next season. Should he stay, we will surely make yet another move for the Paraguayan target man. I can't really see Frank Rijkaard or Roberto Mancini trying to bring him to City though.

But is he good enough? If we do stick with Hughes, we will need to be quite significantly better next season than we have been this year. And while Roque Santa Cruz is better than Benjani and Caicedo, is he sufficiently better to bring about the improvement we need? Or can we look higher up the market? Thierry Henry? Diego Milito? Luís Fabiano?

Santa Cruz news

Two pieces of news today suggesting that one of our January buys is going to be Blackburn Rovers' topically named striker, Roque Santa Cruz. It's well known that we bid first £12m then £14m for him in August, and even without ADUG could well have gone back in January. There's been talk of it ever since the takeover, particularly since Sam Allardyce's becoming manager at Ewood Park.

But today we learnt (via the uncharacteristically useful M.E.N.) that despite Blackburn's claim that they don't want to sell, there is a clause in Santa Cruz's contract allowing him to talk to any club who makes an offer of €18m (£17m). Provided we're still interested (I know Caicedo was good on Thursday but still...) our meeting that release clause is a formality.

The second thing was a bunch of quotes from Santa Cruz himself about a potential move:

"I am happy at Blackburn but also I want to keep improving my football and remain ambitious...But I am looking to again play in a big side that is in Europe and trying to win their league...But, I don't want to miss the chance of playing with a big side. If a bigger club came in for me then I would like to take that opportunity"

This doesn't sound much like City so far (in what sense other than the most obvious one are we 'trying to win our league'? Presumably he didn't mean the UEFA Cup Group A...). It's only later when he talks of his relationship with Mark Hughes that City fans get can excited.

"It is clear that he got me back to my (best) football after my injury problems at Bayern...He gave me confidence to play football again. Of course it is always a nice feeling to have a manager who is always backing you and I will always appreciate what he did for me."

The disparity between Santa Cruz's career pre, during and post-Hughes is striking. In his eight seasons at Bayern Munich (he joined them aged 18 in 1999), he managed 31 goals in 155 league appearances (38 in 188 in all competitions). He did struggle with injuries, but is not a very impressive record. But in his year at Blackburn with Hughes he got 19 in 37 in the EPL (only Ronaldo, Adebayor and Torres scored more), and 23 in 43 in all competitions. (I have literally no idea when last a City striker scored 19 top flight goals.) But under the Ince regime he managed just two in eight.

So he clearly enjoys playing for Mark Hughes And we need a striker. And he wants to leave. And we can afford him. I'm not very proud to say it, but it looks like Santa Cruz is coming to town.