Okay people, don't believe what you read in the papers. Proof below that there does not need to be a mass exodus of players. From the OS we have 39 players counting recent signing Kolarov. They are:
Goalkeepers (5)
David Gonzales, Shay Given, Joe Hart, Gunnar Nielsen, Stuart Taylor
Defenders (13)
Dedryck Boyata, Greg Cunningham, Javan Vidal, Jerome Boateng, Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge, Javier Garrido, Shaleum Logan, Nedum Onuoha, Micah Richards, Kolo Toure, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov
Midfielders (13)
Abdisalam Ibrahim, Adam Johnson, David Silva, Gareth Barry, Patrick Vieira, Yaya Toure, Nigel de Jong, Kelvin Etuhu, Stephen Ireland, Michael Johnson, Vincent Kompany, Vladimir Weiss, Shaun Wright-Phillips,
Strikers (8)
Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy, Felipe Caicedo, Jô, Alex Tchuimeni-Nimely, Robinho, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez
There are 6 Under 21s in that 39.
Dedryck Boyata, Greg Cunningham, Abdisalam Ibrahim, Vladimir Weiss, Alex Tchuimeni-Nimely, Javan Vidal
That leaves 33 players of which 8 have to go.
Gunnar Nielsen is out on loan to Tranmere, so that knocks it down to 32, 7 of which have to go.
Michael Johnson won't be registered for the 1st half of the season as he is not fit to play for the beginning of the season which takes it down to 31, 6 of which have to go.
However, Mancini is quoted in the following articles as saying they have 30 players and need to get down to 25 and that Robinho does not want to come back.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0726/1224275468190.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...oor-Manchester-City-boss-Roberto-Mancini.html
That would mean that since they consider Robinho a gonner, they are only counting 30 players, of which 5 need to be cleared out. The 5 that are likely to be sold or loaned are:
1 GK likely to be David Gonzales but could be one of Hart or Given if not a regular starter.
2 DFs Shaleum Logan, Javier Garrido (though Bridge could be a possibility)
1 MF Kelvin Etuhu (could be serving a prison sentence anyway)
1 of 2 STs Felipe Caicedo or Jo
That leaves a 25 man roster of:
Goalkeepers (3)
Shay Given, Joe Hart, Stuart Taylor
Defenders (8)
Jerome Boateng, Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge, Nedum Onuoha, Micah Richards, Kolo Toure, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov
Midfielders (9)
Adam Johnson, David Silva, Gareth Barry, Patrick Vieira, Yaya Toure, Nigel de Jong, Stephen Ireland, Vincent Kompany, Shaun Wright-Phillips
Strikers (5)
Emmanuel Adebayor, Craig Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Caceido/Jo
Balotelli would be an under 21 so could be added to the squad as an under 21 for the premier league but would need to bump a player out of the team to be registered for Europa league play from what I gather.
If we were to sign Milner, then a player from the above 25 would have to be moved.
Same for each new successive signing. Not that the player positions are as the OS designates them, not as they have played or may play, such as Kompany at CB.
