Roberto Mancini is poised to make a shock bid to bring Daniel Sturridge back to Manchester City
Manchester City old boy Daniel Sturridge is being lined up to form part of Roberto Mancini’s new guard next season. Up to six of the current first-team are facing the axe this summer with doubts over the long-term futures of Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, Adam Johnson, Aleksandar Kolarov and Nigel de Jong. And Mancini, who has silenced the critics calling for his head with comfortable wins over West Brom and Norwich which have reignited the all-Manchester title race, is also plotting the arrival of three new players with Chelsea striker Sturridge understood to be high up on the Italian’s wish-list. Sturridge, who moved to Stamford Bridge under a cloud three years ago after City reportedly refused to match his wage demands, has fallen out of favour since Roberto Di Matteo replaced Andre Villas-Boas as Chelsea manager last month. He was a first-team regular under Villas-Boas but has dropped down the pecking order during Di Matteo’s short reign, losing his place for key games to Salomon Kalou. The 22-year-old has only completed 90 minutes twice in Di Matteo’s 12 games in charge.
He was an unused substitute when Chelsea visited the Etihad Stadium last month and against Tottenham in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final. Di Matteo has also criticised the striker, who made his England debut in November, challenging him to ‘play for the team’. The ex-City Academy star is expected to be on the bench again when Chelsea face Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge tomorrow. It’s likely that Sturridge, who is yet to open talks over an extension to his current deal with runs out in two years, will wait and see if interim manager Di Matteo gets the job permanently before making any decisions about his future. Mancini has made no secret of his admiration for Sturridge, who would command a fee of around £20million if he’s allowed to leave. Before City’s trip to Chelsea in December, Mancini said: “It was strange because Sturridge was developed in Manchester and someone let him go. “If Sturridge was here today, he’d be in the first team. I’ve watched him many times and I know him well.”
http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1491462_roberto-mancini-is-poised-to-make-a-shock-bid-to-bring-daniel-sturridge-back-to-manchester-city?This wouldn't surprise me one bit. I think he'll be Englands top dog with rooney in a couple of years, only thing is whether he'd get in guidetti's way?
£20 million is a piss take though
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