'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgb/2gAIAQEAAAAAjV//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/9oACAECEAAAAH//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/9oACAEDEAAAAA//xAAiEAADAAAEBwEAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMABAUhBhETIjEyQtL/2gAIAQEAAT8AzmUjkZSfUOrGho6VUBfRR8kc9zt5GF4H12qiiwmA3cAaj9Y//8QAGBEAAwEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDABL/2gAIAQIBAT8AqnFWQHf/xAAaEQABBQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAAEDESEj/9oACAEDAQE/AGm4Cdbq/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Manchester City have stormed off the lines in the current transfer window, having completed the quickfire purchase of long-time target Fernando Luiz Rosa – known popularly as Fernandinho – and the signing of Jesus Navas is a mere formality away, with Navas currently occupied with the Spanish national team. This comes after an underwhelming 2012/13 season, preceding which City missed out on all of their transfer targets last summer. Former manager Roberto Mancini was quick to lay the blame on ex-Sporting Director Brian Marwood for failing to coax the required players (Javi Martinez, Eden Hazard, Robin Van Persie), all of whom then went on to make massive impacts at their respective clubs. The scenario at the club has changed entirely this time round. Ferran Sorriano is now the CEO, Txiki Begiristain – formerly of FC Barcelona – is now the Sporting Director, and Roberto Mancini is no longer the manager. Manuel Pellegrini’s announcement as his successor is expected to be made by Tuesday. The sea change at the boardroom level has now percolated down to action in the functionings and systems of the club. They have now learnt from their mistakes and others successes. However, the transfer window is far from closed, and business at the Etihad Stadium is far from done.
The signings made last summer were: Matija Nastasic, Jack Rodwell, Javi Garcia, Scott Sinclair and Maicon. If you don’t follow City much, you’d be forgiven for believing I was joking about the latter two; that’s just how anonymous they were through the season. Nastasic made a profound impact at the club, and Rodwell proved that he can be a midfield force, if fully fit. The others should never have been at the club in the first place. Expect all three out of the club at the earliest, and expect the amounts recouped to be reinvested swiftly, because the City squad is far from complete and much farther from perfection. As I pointed out previously, the sales of Adam Johnson and Nigel de Jong hurt the club in more ways than they care to admit. Johnson added pace, width, trickery, and dynamism to the team when required, and he was capable of scoring some of the most stunning goals. Some which even Lionel Messi would be jealous of. Mancini sold him because of an inherent conflict, and because he believed Johnson wasn’t consistent enough. De Jong wasn’t a regular starter in the side since Yaya Toure was brought in. And yet, de Jong was one of the most influential players at the club last year, and will go down in history as one of the strangest ‘super-subs’ to have existed. He would be brought on at the hour mark, sacrificing either a striker, Samir Nasri, or David Silva, and his arrival would liberate Yaya Toure to move forward and break through opposing defences. Javi Garcia was nowhere as defensively stable and reliable, causing Yaya Toure to stay deeper than was good for the team. It is no coincidence that the club’s poorest season under Mancini coincided with their departures. Adequate replacements were not brought in, and squad was not strengthened.
This season, both Johnson and de Jong’s departures have been atoned for, as Navas and Fernandinho have already been brought in. Fernandinho was supposedly the club’s principal target, and they paid £30m for the 28-year-old. Given that he is no household name, that amount may seem over-the-top. However, players like him are hard to come by, and he is just what City could use. Standing at 5’8”, Fernandinho is no Toure-esque presence. But be swayed not. Roy Keane was only 5’10”. Electric pace, explosive power, a great passing range, and tank-like strength characterize the Brazilian as the complete midfielder. Gareth Barry, for all his understated qualities, will most certainly be sacrificed, given his prime has passed, as evidenced against Southampton at St. Mary’s in the League. For more on Fernandinho, read this excellent piece by one of our very own at Sportskeeda.
Jesus Navas is a far more popular name than Fernandinho though, given his exploits with the Spanish national team in World Cup 2010, and Euro 2012. Navas has now well and truly overcome the over-documented homesickness he suffered from previously. If unfamiliar with his style of play, imagine him as a bigger and better Aaron Lennon. As fast, but more direct, with a better end product; be it a shot on goal, or a cross into the six-yard box. In fact, Navas created more chances for Sevilla from open play (71) last season than any other player in La Liga. Jesus Navas has been a regular on the right for his club, and has been used as an impact substitute by Vicente Del Bosque in the national side; his speed and directness taking advantage of lethargy in the opposition. Expect Navas to cement a place in the City starting line-up as well.
Manuel Pellegrini prefers playing a 4-3-3, and expect the manager to make a few more transfers by the end of the window. Isco has been a target since last season, and the player himself is keen to follow his mentor Pellegrini to the Etihad. Expect progress on his arrival after the end of the Euro U21 Championship. Isco can be expected on the left of the front three, Navas, as mentioned previously, on the right, and Sergio Aguero through the centre. This trio will be supplied by the devastating midfield combination of Yaya Toure, Fernandinho and David Silva, with the former two switching as the holding midfielder. A new central defender is also on the cards, after the departure of Kolo Toure and the impending exit of Joleon Lescott, and Real Madrid wantaway Pepe has been mooted as an option, but that one is still far from done. Pellegrini’s arrival has also supposedly cooled City’s interest in Edinson Cavani, though they still remain in negotiations, in the event that Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko both leave the club.
Manchester City have been reworked from the ground up under Sheikh Mansour and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, and the 2013/14 season will be the next defining chapter in the progress of the club. The owners have always professed stability as the way forward, and the work done in the current window will either make or break the club in the coming seasons. Given the way they’ve started, expect some show of Middle Eastern monetary muscle to outwit the lesser opposition.
