Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini flew to Abu Dhabi for talks with chairman
Khaldoon Al Mubarak as his relationship with Garry Cook and Brian Marwood continued to show signs of strain.
Mancini will try to convince Khaldoon of the need to spend ambitiously on at least four players this summer, rather than follow the more cautious approach recommended by the club’s chief executive Cook and football administrator Marwood.
The meeting will also be attended by Cook and Marwood and Mancini sees it as his chance to air his increasing frustration with them and assert his authority over transfer plans.
Shopping list: Roberto Mancini will outline his transfer targets
Shopping list: Roberto Mancini will outline his transfer targets
He will tell Khaldoon that City must buy a central defender, a right-sided midfielder, playmaker and striker.
Among the names on his list will be Bolton defender Gary Cahill and Udinese winger Alexis Sanchez.
Cook and Marwood believe the club must wait to sell players before they commit to significant spending, as they are worried about UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules.
However, Mancini is convinced that this will lead to City failing to sign key targets.
Although Mancini’s relationship with Cook and Marwood remains civil, it is understood that it is worsening.
Stretched: Mancini's relations with Brian Marwood (front left) and Garry Cook (front centre) is said to be in decline
Stretched: Mancini's relations with Brian Marwood (front left) and Garry Cook (front centre) is said to be in decline
On Monday it was noted that Mancini did not mention them in a speech to 30,000 fans at Eastlands, when he thanked players, staff, Khaldoon and owner Sheik Mansour for their roles in City’s success.
Meanwhile, Mancini is annoyed by suggestions that he gave wayward striker Mario Balotelli permission to skip the club’s FA Cup parade through Manchester on Monday. The manager insists this was not the case.
Exuberant character: Mario Balotelli (left)
Exuberant character: Mario Balotelli (left)
The Italian striker, 20, also missed the club’s Player of the Year dinner on Sunday night and flew home to Italy.
While Mancini and his players were celebrating at Eastlands on Monday, Balotelli was laughing and throwing water bombs at a meeting of Serie A club chiefs in Milan.
Italian TV showed him and his agent Mino Raiola at the traditional end of season meeting in Milan which is attended by players’ representatives to sound out possible transfers.
Balotelli’s image among City fans will not be helped by comments he made to an Italian TV station about the parade.
‘I didn’t understand the value of it,’ he said. ‘The fans were delighted, though. For them it’s worth almost as much as winning the Premier League.’
The striker said: “A return to Inter? I am not dreaming about Milan I am happy with Manchester.’
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This comports with my determination of the areas of need. An LCD, a RW, AM and Striker.