People are jumping the gun by thinking this means Mancini is on a short term contract.
Getting in loan signings till summer is much more likely to mean that we are going for Champions League football next season and once we've secured it we can then attract some seriously big names. At the moment world class stars won't come to us and risk playing in the Europa League next season. To get into the Champions League we need experienced back up - people who've been there and finished top 4 while holding down an FA Cup run at the same time.
Also, it's no secret that Barry needs a hernia operation and he'd rather have it now so he'll be fit for the World Cup. Yes, we pay his wages, but every player wants to be in SA this summer and we'd be arseholes if we made him play through the season and deny him his chance.
We are a club going through enormous changes in a very short space of time. In three seasons we've gone from relegation certs to challenging for top 6 to breaking the top 4. This is why we have the likes of Benjani still in our squad. Loan signings are the perfect way to bridge the gap between this season and next season's Champions League team.