And so it begins...

[George Hannah]

Problem then is he could not be able to play football (except FA and League Cup) in October, November or December despite being fit. Wouldn't that be pretty much unprecedented and a PR disaster?

He can be accomodated in the PL squad without much difficulty if Pogba or Barclay replaces Garcia

But this is all assuming we sign Isco. We'd be allowed 17 non-homegrown and would have:

Willy, Sagna, Kompany, Mangala, Zaba, Demichelis, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Fernando, Yaya, Nasri, Silva, Navas, Isco, Negredo, Dzeko, Aguero, Jovetic

18 non-homegrown there, but only 17 allowed. Meaning one of those names would have to be not registered and not allowed to play Premier League football until January (and even then, what happens in January?). If it was Negredo, City are hoping to have him back before the end of September (<a class="postlink" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28402355" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28402355</a>), which means he couldn't play in October, November, December...

Quite true. If Isco lands he would have to displace one of those 17 in the PL and whoever it is would be big trouble unless we get another serious injury in that foreign group pre-season.

 

[LoveCity]

I read that as well, but having seen many a player with that sort of injury (some with fairly good medical care) take much longer to return from it, I think that timeline is very optimistic.

The maximum seems to be 3 months, which would bring him back around mid-October. That's still part of October, all of November, all of December, and possibly some of January that a big name striker isn't eligible to play Premier League football. It just seems a bit unfathomable to me to slot in another playmaker (when we already have two with similar features). So my belief is a fairly high profile non-homegrown player other than Garcia would have to be sold or loaned out for us to sign Isco.

 

[Andouble]

would have to be Negredo or Jovetic. Outside chance Navas. Those 3 plus Isco, Silva, Nasri, Yaya (now an attacker with Fernando's addition), Aguero, Dzeko seems a bit overkill. Plus Milner.

 

[andrewmswift]

The squad restrictions make Isco seem unlikely. But God he would be such a great get.

Is there any word on a new contract for Edin?

 

[Nightmare Walking]

would have to be Negredo or Jovetic. Outside chance Navas. Those 3 plus Isco, Silva, Nasri, Yaya (now an attacker with Fernando's addition), Aguero, Dzeko seems a bit overkill. Plus Milner.

Navas has to stay, we can not afford to lose his pace as it stretches the field.

I think it will be Jovetic who is sacrificed if Pelli really wants Isco.

 

[SebastianBlue]

I read that as well, but having seen many a player with that sort of injury (some with fairly good medical care) take much longer to return from it, I think that timeline is very optimistic.

The maximum seems to be 3 months, which would bring him back around mid-October. That's still part of October, all of November, all of December, and possibly some of January that a big name striker isn't eligible to play Premier League football. It just seems a bit unfathomable to me to slot in another playmaker (when we already have two with similar features). So my belief is a fairly high profile non-homegrown player other than Garcia would have to be sold or loaned out for us to sign Isco.

I can't argue against the possibility (and it may very well happen). But I do think Negredo's effective absence will extend into November (as he will not be fully match fit until then). If the management team can convince him that he will be the cup striker during that time (as my understanding is he would still be able to participate in those competitions—feel free to correct me if I am wrong, however), and registered after January, it may be a feasible solution. It is something I would consider if I were him, as it would endear me to the leadership and perhaps provide leverage for negotiations in the future (not that I want it to become a study of Machiavellian tactics).

 

[Andouble]

would have to be Negredo or Jovetic. Outside chance Navas. Those 3 plus Isco, Silva, Nasri, Yaya (now an attacker with Fernando's addition), Aguero, Dzeko seems a bit overkill. Plus Milner.

Navas has to stay, we can not afford to lose his pace as it stretches the field.

I think it will be Jovetic who is sacrificed if Pelli really wants Isco.

Jovetic would command the largest fee, that's for sure.

Jovetic and Iso are pretty like for like though, no?

 

[SebastianBlue]

would have to be Negredo or Jovetic. Outside chance Navas. Those 3 plus Isco, Silva, Nasri, Yaya (now an attacker with Fernando's addition), Aguero, Dzeko seems a bit overkill. Plus Milner.

I actually agree with you and others that it would likely be Jovetic, unfortunately. He has immense amounts of potential, but he is injury prone and plays very similarly to Isco (but not necessarily the same position, mind). We could live to regret that move but I think it is the most likely, if that is the solution as LoveCity has proposed.

 

[blue_sonic176]

If Liverpool is out of the race for Isco's signature, wouldn't it make sense to try the loan + buy option in January? We could avoid having to leave out a high profile player from the PL.

 

[LoveCity]

would have to be Negredo or Jovetic. Outside chance Navas. Those 3 plus Isco, Silva, Nasri, Yaya (now an attacker with Fernando's addition), Aguero, Dzeko seems a bit overkill. Plus Milner.

Navas has to stay, we can not afford to lose his pace as it stretches the field.

I think it will be Jovetic who is sacrificed if Pelli really wants Isco.

Jovetic would command the largest fee, that's for sure.

Jovetic and Iso are pretty like for like though, no?

Not really. Jovetic can play as a striker and scored plenty of goals for Fiorentina in that role. Unless Pellegrini commits to a permanent switch to 1 forward then we need 4 of them, especially with Aguero's hamstrings...

If we sold Jovetic, we could start the season with just one fully fit striker (Dzeko), depending on Aguero. I'm not counting Guidetti because unless he does a 180 in preseason he looks miles off being good enough.

Given a straight choice, I'd have Jovetic over Isco. Jovetic is more versatile and less like Silva and Nasri than Isco is.