Caicedo goes, RSC stays

Even with the departure of Robinho and the bizarre retention of Jô we still had two unsettled South American strikers at the club yesterday evening.

Felipe Caicedo, who had been set for West Ham United before they pulled out of a loan deal, moved on loan to Levante, where he will team up with Premier League winner Asier del Horno and Dennis Wise favourite Iganico González.

Roque Santa Cruz was set to team up with Javi Garrido at Lazio but that fell through. So he'll now be staying at City and fighting for his place:

“I have heard from the manager he won’t be counting on me too much,” Santa Cruz said. “I heard that a week before the season and I had time to see if I could arrange a move.

“But in the end the club were happy to keep me and they weren’t happy with anything that came through.

“Now I’ll try and prove myself in training and I’m looking forward to taking my chances.”

I can't see him playing too much.

Caicedo wonder goal

City striker Felipe Caicedo scored his first goal for Málaga last weekend, the second in their 3-0 win away at Racing Santander. He picked up the ball on the right, beat two defenders and then finished into the corner. I'll find a link to video when I can.

The result lifts Málaga to fifteenth, four points from the relegation zone.

Caicedo joins Málaga

His loan move to Sporting Lisbon didn't work out, so he's taken a bit of a step down - to Málaga CF. They're currently 18th in La Liga so he could well fire them to safety and make himself a legend on the Costa del Sol.

They've got Real Madrid away in a fortnight's time. If he could score at the Bernabéu it would mean quite a lot to me.

Caicedo move confirmed

On the official site.

It's testament to the relentless pace of our progress this summer that a player for whom we paid £5.3m last January, and who hit an impressive seven goals (plus the backheel at the Hawthornes) in the 'back nine' of last season can be so far from the reckoning this year.

Of course, it's possible that Caicedo will have a good season in Portugal and come back to City for 2010/11. But I'd bet strongly against it. The fact is that player recruitment has moved quicker than anyone would have expected this summer, and no-one's place is safe. Vassell's gone to Turkey, Jô's already returend to Everton, and now Evans is set to go to Sheffield United.

Popular as he is, I'd be surprised if Bozhinov survives the summer. And if Benjani's still here come September 1, something's gone quite wrong. Our stable of strikers for the 2010/11 season will almost certainly be: Carlos Tévez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy - none of whom were here even in 2008. Such is the pace of change.

Caicedo to Sporting

SkySports.com are reporting this:

12.03 Striker Felipe Caicedo has told skysports.com he is ready to prove himself on the European stage after agreeing a move to Sporting Lisbon.

But there's no more to it yet. I'm sure we'll see more later today.

UPDATE:

Big Phil is quoted as saying this:

"My objective is to play and to demonstrate that I can triumph in Europe," Caicedo told skysports.com.

"City have many forwards who have arrived this summer and they have complicated my presence.

"But to be with a club like Sporting Lisbon is a personal challenge to me.

"I am very happy to be able to play in the Champions League. Portugal is a good championship and I do not believe there will be any problems for me adapting my style."

The deal should be done tomorrow.

More departures?

Two more of the remaining Eriksson signings are set to leave City, according to Ian Herbert in The Independent. Felipe Caicedo is linked with a loan move to Sporting Lisbon, and Javi Garrido with a transfer to Racing Santander.

Both of these sound very plausible.

Felipe's future

Felipe Caicedo has mentioned today interest from other clubs - including Sporting Lisbon and West Ham United. But he went on to say that he's been told that he's staying:

"I've been told that I'm going to stay here, plus I have a contract with more than three years remaining at City," he added.

It's hard to judge the future of our forwards individually - whether Caicedo stays is inextricably linked with the futures of Evans, Sturridge, Bozhinov and Jô (Bellamy will surely stay, Benjani and Vassell will surely leave.) I imagine that we'll retain at most two of the Evans, Sturridge, Bozhinov, Jô, Caicedo grouping, and at the moment Caicedo looks most likely to stay. But changes in other situations - such as Sturridge backing down on his contract demands - could well see other forwards moved on.

More on dropping Robinho

Another day, another Daniel Taylor piece on the possible dropping of Robinho for Arsenal on Saturday. Friday's article, though, is even more sure-footed than Thursday's, accompanied as it is with more from Hughes:

Initially, he was reluctant to reveal his plans but, later, he privately acknowledged that he was unlikely to start with either of his Brazilians.

"We don't know for certain yet because we don't know who's going to be fit and well," he added. "We can make a decision on Friday when everyone is back [from international duty]. But Robinho has had a lot of travelling. Every time he goes away on international duty, it's not just a little hop into Europe. It's a trip across continents and that can have an impact as well."

Friday's piece also goes into more detail of the probable line-up for Saturday:

Injuries permitting, Hughes now seems certain to abandon his usual 4-2-3-1 formation for a more conservative 4-3-2-1 system that will see Stephen Ireland take Robinho's usual position, with Shaun Wright-Phillips on the right and Felipe Caicedo the most likely replacement for the injured Craig Bellamy. Vincent Kompany, Nigel De Jong and Pablo Zabaleta will pack City's midfield...

This would look like this:

It's good, although I'm not sure Hughes can use the 'he'll be tired after flying back from South America' excuse for dropping Robinho if he then starts Felipe Caicedo, who started for Ecuador last Saturday and this Wednesday. If possible I'd naturally rather have Bozhinov or Sturridge up front but it sounds like neither of them are fit.

Elano and Robinho play in 1-1 draw

City's Elano and Robinho played in Brazil's fortuitous 1-1 draw away to Ecuador. They both started behind Luís Fabiano in Brazil's 4-2-3-1 (Ronaldinho was the other attacking player), anchored by holding midfielders Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo (with whom City were recently linked).

But Ecuador were much the better side throughout the first half, pressing Brazil and denying them any time on the ball. Elano and Robinho saw very little of the play; the most active City player on the pitch was Felipe Caicedo, who led the line for Ecuador with good help from the very able Christian Benítez. Big Phil could even have scored one or two in the first half, putting a header and a low shot narrowly wide. The frustration got to Elano, as it often does, and he was booked late in the first half.

The second half was similar: Ecuador were again the better side, and Elano was replaced by Josué to firm up the Brazilian midfield after 61 minutes. But it was another Brazilian substitution which turned the game: with nineteen minutes remaining Ronaldinho was taken off for Júlio Baptista. With Baptista's first touch he laid the ball wide to Robinho and continued his run. Robinho returned the ball to Baptista, whose shot cannoned off the post, onto the back of Ecuador keeper José Cevallos and into the net. 0-1 Brazil, 'smash and grab' doesn't quite cover it.

But Ecuador continued to press; Caicedo went close once or twice but could never quite get on the end of balls into the box. He was substituted on 92 minutes, but not before Ecuador scored their much deserved equaliser. In the last minute of normal time, the impressive Benítez shot from close range and Júlio César (without doubt Brazil's best player) could only palm the ball into the path of Christian Noboa, who scored from three yards out. 1-1 wasn't exactly fair, but at least Ecuador got a point.

Maybe Dunga now knows what Hughes has done for a while: that building a team around Elano and Robinho is fantastic for home games, but when you go away to a physical side - it's not always so good.