1/10 to “SIGNED”…

In both the Summer and January transfer windows I tend to keep a log of those transfer rumours that I rate as being anywhere from a very slim, 1/10 chance of it coming true right the way through to a player actually signing for the Blues. ‘No chancers’ I don’t even bother switching on my PC for…

It’s warming up

Whether it’s because we have such a strong squad – more or less having 2, 3 or even 4 extremely capable players for most positions – or whether it’s because both Manuel Pellegrini and Manchester City F.C. as a whole are expert at keeping their cards not just close to their chest but locked away in a secure vault; compared to the other ‘big six’ we’ve barely had a mention during the current transfer window. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but it now seems to be slowly gathering a slow-to-medium pace.

So with just yer 10-½ days to go (at the time of this Blog-posting) and with the City rumours moving from a medium-pace walk to a lazy feet-shuffling jog; here’s how I think we currently stand with some of the slightly more sensible & likely links.

Isco (Attacking/Creative midfielder – Left/Right/Centre)

A player Manuel tried so hard to drag with him to Manchester City when he left Malaga; it seemed like a real tussle right to the end [of him signing for Real Madrid]. Having been at the mighty whites for so almost 8 months and having only played 16 games (scoring 6 times), is it all that unlikely? I don’t think we have a great chance of actually signing him on a permanent deal in January but I certainly wouldn’t rule out a loan move (especially with Samir on the treatment table for the next 5 to 7 weeks). If things don’t look to be improving for the lad at the end of the season THEN I can see him making my summer list of ‘possibles’ and rating it a decent 5/10 too. As for now…

Loan move: 4/10

Permanent move: 2/10

Nigel de Jong (Defensive midfielder – Centre)

I think a lot of this is down to ‘the speculators’ putting 2+2 together and coming up with 18.7. I don’t actually think the slowly-improving Javi Garcia will be with us at the start of next season and so, similar to Isco; I can see ‘our Nige’ making a strong 6/10 in the summer window. It sure makes sense to bring him back to compete with the similarly-aged Fernandinho for that deeper-lying midfield role. The guy knows the Premier League very well indeed, rarely put in a bad performance, certainly gave Yaya the freedom and, more importantly, confidence to attack-attack-attack and he both knows and loves the club. But for now and with Garcia unlikely to be moving before February…

2/10

Dante (Defender – Centre)

 

Pellegrini likes his South Americans and this 30-year old chappy not only has plenty of European experience; he’s currently playing for one of the best Managers and football teams in the world. But for those last two reasons, although he made my list as someone I can see our Manager being very interested in, I just can’t see him leaving Bayern and so…

1/10

Eliaquim Mangala (Defender – Centre)

This guy looks class and gets rave reviews whenever I read or hear about him. And at just 23-years of age this coming February, he fits right into our long-term building plan too. At an estimated £35M he sure will cost a bit but, then again, defensively we’ll be off-loading Demichelis, Lescott, Boyata and, quite possibly, Richards at the very least in the summer I’m sure. We’ve been linked with the French international on & off for the last 12 to 18 months and I’d love him to join us in January (but certainly the summer if not…) and although I’d rate his summer chances of joining us as highly as 7/10, I don’t think his January chances are completely unrealistic at…

4/10

Luke Shaw (Defender – Left)

I was quite confident when we were (strongly?) linked with the young lad from Southampton but looking back; I now wonder how much of that optimism was down to my own personal desire to see us bring in a quality left-back. In truth, I’m relying on reports on how good he actually is, having seen very little of him personally. However, it sounds as though not only is he going nowhere in January but he’s also Chelsea-bound in the summer (for a whopping £30M for a lad with only 40-odd Southampton games under his belt). BUT…you can never rule out City’s desire to ‘go ‘n’ get’ players they want these days and no other footballing force will scare off Ferran Soriano & Txiki Begiristain if Pellegrini wants someone badly enough. This one gets a highly unlikely but not impossible…

1/10  Stay with me, the scores pick up a little bit soon…

 

Leighton Baines (Defender – Left)

Does Pellegrini want a left-back able to easily compete for a place with Kolarov & Clichy right now? Does he want one who can replace one of those players should either of them depart in the summer? Does he want one who knows the Premier League inside-out and one who, even at 29-years of age, has now been recognised as being good enough to complete with Ashley Cole for an England place? Does he want one who can attack as well as defend and one who can sure help Kolarov & Yaya with free kicks and penalties if needed? Does he wanna p**s Manyoo & Moyes right off?! Well for around £15M – along with the added bonus of us offering Everton the permanent services of Gareth Barry as part of the deal - he could do all of that in one swoop. January chances?

4/10

Chidiebere Nwakali (Midfield – Centre / Defender – Right)

SIGNED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelechi Iheanacho (Forward – Left/Right/Centre)

After on / off / on / off…and now back on negotiations with, apparently, his agent; it looks like this one is almost done...according to the player's dad. There are still some doubts about whether he’ll get a work permit and so even if he signs a (rumoured) pre-contract agreement to join us; he then might have to go out on loan until his 18^th birthday (now 17) and / or until a work permit can be achieved.

8/10

 

Angel Di Maria (Winger – Left)

Another player we’ve been linked with before…even before Arsenal ‘got their noses in’. And this one makes perfect sense to me. Regular readers might recall me saying that, although it might seem very greedy of me wanting another creative midfield (Juan Mata at the time); it would show our real intent and would elevate us to yet another level. Angel fits the bill perfectly. Although a left-winger and nothing else (albeit certainly one who scores as well as creates goals), he would open the door to for Samir Nasri to move inside and play an even more pivotal role. Samir does a fine job on the left wing – as does David Silva out on either flank – but I’m sure both of them would do far more damage with more-permanent, central midfield roles. And I haven’t forgotten Steven Jovetic who can, apparently, also play a deep-lying and wide role if required. However, I’d much rather see Steven sitting central either just behind or as one of the main strikers. What an option Angel would give us! Imagine, on occasions if you will, a 4-4-2 with (from left to right) Angel, Yaya, (Samir or David) & (David or Jesus) behind Alvaro & Sergio! Similarly 4-5-1 with Fernandinho ‘sitting in’ and mopping up behind 4 of those 5 marauding midfielders/wingers? I’ll stop drooling now but, for the apparent Real Madrid ‘want-away’ winger, I’ll put…

4/10

Alberto Moreno Perez (Defender – Left)

Who? Well that’s pretty much what I said yesterday. So fast has this guy burst onto the footballing scene that within 20-odd games of him playing first-team-football for Sevilla, he got 2 caps for the almighty Spanish national team! Having only previously played for their reserve, Sevilla B side; this 21-year old is already accumulating praise from those ‘in the know’ in the world of football. £25M it would, apparently, cost for us to start negotiations; £5M less than the apparent fee for Luke Shaw. But what makes this one stand out above the rest [of the rumours] is that we have, again apparently, been sending ‘our guys’ over to Spain for an initial ‘look-see’ and talks in the last few days & weeks (with a club that we’ve done very recent business with…TWICE) and so this one gets a cautiously optimistic…

5/10

Keep watching...

 

I’ll keep my eye on those and will change / update the scores accordingly. I’ll also add any more player-transfer links that don’t fall into the ‘laughable’ category of rumours.

Speaking of laughable, enjoy tonight’s game (7:45pm GMT)…