It's a good question, mate, and we like to speculate about it, but there's just so much stuff we don't know that those on the inside do know. They see the academy, who's coming through, what their potential is for three years up the road. They're getting news from our scouting network from all over the world that we may know nothing about. If there's any truth to the noises being made about Kovacic — it may just be a move to call De Laurentiis' bluff — it might be slightly strange, because his buy-out clause is actually €5 million more than what we say we're prepared to pay for Jorginho!
I'd just like to emphasise that Liverpool ended up the season 25 points adrift of us. Twenty five. Yes, they've made good acquisitions. Fabinho has looked like a good player at Monaco. Is he tough enough for the PL? Who knows? Fekir, if that goes through, is a good player, although he's not been the same since coming back from his bad injury, and everybody who follows Lyon has noticed it. No room for complacency, of course, but that's a hell of gap to overturn. But if it not the dippers, it'll be the rags, or spuds, or Chelsea. At the very least, they'll close that gap to something a bit more respectable.
As never before in supporting City, I trust the team running this club, and I trust their judgement. I'm also pretty sure that if we walk away from this deal, we'll still have to get someone. Yaya's gone, Ferny's not getting any younger, Gundogan doesn't seem to have totally convinced Pep. They're all different players anyway, who bring different things to the table. I'd be very astonished if Pep doesn't bring someone else in. As I say, we're now letting people know that we negotiate from a position of strength, and I trust the people running us to have a fine judgement on when to give a little, when to take a little.
