Re: January Targets
I would be surprised if we made any purchases in January.
If Toure goes to the African Nations Cup we may simply keep Lampard for another 4-6 weeks into mid Feb to cover for Toure.
We could sell Nastasic in January (I here Roma re interested in him) as the manager seems to have more faith in Boyata as 4th choice Centre Half to back up Kompany, Mangala, and Demichelis (and even Sagna I believe has played centre half for Arsenal on some occasions ?) Thus as it seems Pellegrini does not rate Nastasic, we may as well sell him in January if Roma or anyone else are prepared to pay at least the £ 12 million we paid for him. May as well have the money in the bank ready for the summer to add to the £ 24 million we should get for Negredo from Valencia in the summer. That gives us £ 36 million straight off.
Come next summer the big decision for City is will they keep Toure or sell him and replace him. Usual names for replacing Toure are Barkley and Pogba of course. If sold (say to PSG) we may get £ 20 million for Toure ? Everton will fleece us if we want Barkley and so will Juventus if we want Pogba (either at least £ 45 million) and any of these 2 transfers could drag on all summer.
Apart from centre midfield 2 other possible areas to strengthen are left full back and either left or right wing.
Not sure what the best left back option is, and for wingers it seems the main target would be Reus. If Reus signs a new deal at Dortmund they again would fleece us for £ 40 million + I suspect, otherwise if his release deal is £ 20 million, then a good target for City.
Thus at most do we only need 3 new signings for next summer
Left Back (for Clichy, thus keep Kolarov and have him + a new signing) ?
Centre Mid (to replace Toure) ?
Winger (a replacement for Navas ?
and hopfeully give Hart and Milner new contracts long before then and maybe having 1 or 2 from Zuculini, Lopes, Pozo and Fofana added to the 25 man PL squad.
If we could sell Nastasic, Toure, Clichy and Navas then the only other players to sell would be Sinclair and possibly Gudetti (loan to sale move at Celtic possibly) and then 1 from either Rekik or Denayer (whilst keeping the one not sold on loan).
Thus next summer:
Sales:
Toure £ 20 million ?
Clichy £ 5 million ?
Navas £ 10 million ?
Sinclair £ 3 million ?
Gudetti £ 3 million ?
Rekik £ 5 million ?
(Having already sold Negredo £ 24 million and Nastasic £ 12 million)
Purchases:
Barkley or Pogba £ 45 million ?
Reus £ 20 million ?
A left back to rotate with Kolarov (any suggestions) £ 15 million ?
On another point do you think City (if it ever became an option) would buy Messi for say £ 110 million to get one worldwide megastar if they could, and thus put many financial eggs in one basket, or is that now not the City way ? Also with the tax case against Messi would this also possibly put off the City hierarchy i.e. the ethos is a calm ship with no extra bad publicity wanted ?
I would be surprised if we made any purchases in January.
If Toure goes to the African Nations Cup we may simply keep Lampard for another 4-6 weeks into mid Feb to cover for Toure.
We could sell Nastasic in January (I here Roma re interested in him) as the manager seems to have more faith in Boyata as 4th choice Centre Half to back up Kompany, Mangala, and Demichelis (and even Sagna I believe has played centre half for Arsenal on some occasions ?) Thus as it seems Pellegrini does not rate Nastasic, we may as well sell him in January if Roma or anyone else are prepared to pay at least the £ 12 million we paid for him. May as well have the money in the bank ready for the summer to add to the £ 24 million we should get for Negredo from Valencia in the summer. That gives us £ 36 million straight off.
Come next summer the big decision for City is will they keep Toure or sell him and replace him. Usual names for replacing Toure are Barkley and Pogba of course. If sold (say to PSG) we may get £ 20 million for Toure ? Everton will fleece us if we want Barkley and so will Juventus if we want Pogba (either at least £ 45 million) and any of these 2 transfers could drag on all summer.
Apart from centre midfield 2 other possible areas to strengthen are left full back and either left or right wing.
Not sure what the best left back option is, and for wingers it seems the main target would be Reus. If Reus signs a new deal at Dortmund they again would fleece us for £ 40 million + I suspect, otherwise if his release deal is £ 20 million, then a good target for City.
Thus at most do we only need 3 new signings for next summer
Left Back (for Clichy, thus keep Kolarov and have him + a new signing) ?
Centre Mid (to replace Toure) ?
Winger (a replacement for Navas ?
and hopfeully give Hart and Milner new contracts long before then and maybe having 1 or 2 from Zuculini, Lopes, Pozo and Fofana added to the 25 man PL squad.
If we could sell Nastasic, Toure, Clichy and Navas then the only other players to sell would be Sinclair and possibly Gudetti (loan to sale move at Celtic possibly) and then 1 from either Rekik or Denayer (whilst keeping the one not sold on loan).
Thus next summer:
Sales:
Toure £ 20 million ?
Clichy £ 5 million ?
Navas £ 10 million ?
Sinclair £ 3 million ?
Gudetti £ 3 million ?
Rekik £ 5 million ?
(Having already sold Negredo £ 24 million and Nastasic £ 12 million)
Purchases:
Barkley or Pogba £ 45 million ?
Reus £ 20 million ?
A left back to rotate with Kolarov (any suggestions) £ 15 million ?
On another point do you think City (if it ever became an option) would buy Messi for say £ 110 million to get one worldwide megastar if they could, and thus put many financial eggs in one basket, or is that now not the City way ? Also with the tax case against Messi would this also possibly put off the City hierarchy i.e. the ethos is a calm ship with no extra bad publicity wanted ?