very interesting in the mirror, love the quotes about weekly meetings between Txiki and Mancio
Bobby means business: Roberto Mancini planning massive Man City spending spree
Roberto Mancini has not given up hope of retaining the Premier League title – but the Manchester City boss is already plotting a huge summer spending spree.
Mancini has revealed that he is holding weekly meetings with the club’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain to ensure that the mistakes that have left them trailing Manchester United are not repeated.
Mancini still blames Brian Marwood for failing to deliver top targets like Robin van Persie, Javi Martinez and Eden Hazard in the aftermath of last season’s title triumph.
And, although the only significant piece of business that the Champions conducted during the January transfer window was the £20million sale of Mario Balotelli to AC Milan, the ground work is already being prepared for a major overhaul of the City squad.
Names like Edinson Cavani, Radamel Falcao, Neymar, Isco, Steven Jovetic and Fernandinho feature prominently on Mancini’s ‘A’ list of targets.
And this time he believes the club will deliver.
Eding this way? Cavani has been a long-term target for City
Giuseppe Bellini
Mancini said: “It’s difficult in January to find really good players for us.
“Clubs don’t want to sell now, but maybe they will in the summer. We need to work now, so that it is not like last year.
“Last year we didn’t work well. It’s important we start now. Now’s the time we can close in on some good players for the summer.
“I have meetings with Txiki every week and we talk about the summer.
“It will be easier to get players in the summer if we work hard, well and quickly now.
“You can’t start looking at players in May because all the good ones are gone and it becomes impossible.”
Twelve months ago, Mancini urged City to begin work early on his transfer plans, but – with the outcome of the title in the balance – there was a period of inactivity that allowed United to snatch Van Persie, while Hazard opted for Chelsea and Martinez moved to German giants Bayern Munich.
Instead, City recruited Matija Nastasic, Javi Garcia, Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair and Maicon, who have been introduced to the squad with mixed degrees of success.
Watching Van Persie fire United’s bid to reclaim the title with a brilliant goal burst has become a source of frustration to Mancini.
But Etihad insiders insist that every signing is made with the manager’s full approval.
One that got away: van Persiehas made the difference for United this season
John Peters / Getty
An influx of new faces will coincide with an exodus of players that will enable Chief Executive Ferran Soriano move more towards balancing the books as he works in tandem with Mancini and Begiristain.
And the fact that Mancini is seen as a key part of the recruitment process suggests that he will be at the Etihad next season regardless of whether he is able to overtake United this time.
After failing to harness Balotelli’s potential, the Italian is aware that temperament is just as important as talent.
Mancini added: “I think that it is very important to talk to new players about their mentality.
“We only need players who can improve our team.
“They need to be good players, but also with a good mentality.”
Mancini has no doubts about the character of the players that Balotelli left behind.
City entertain Liverpool today in a game that they must win if they are to deliver on their manager’s belief that United can be caught.
Mancini said: “Last year we were eight points behind with six games to go.
“If we did it then we can do it now. It’s not impossible that we can catch them because we still have 14 games to play.
“The season is long and we still have a chance. We will do everything we can to win this league – and we still have a good memory of last season.”
