Signings On The Way

Now that the novelty of the cup has passed, its on to more important issues for Roberto Mancini and the Sky Blues.

Apart from the arrival of Potless Pompey(and I do sympathize) on Sunday we have the time to concentrate on strengthening the playing staff.

Whether you agree with it or not, Robinho is on the verge of signing a six month loan deal with Brazilian club Santos and has already made noises that he doesn't want to return.

I'm a big fan of Robinho's prodigious talents, I just wish he could pull them out of his backside and use them more often.

Add that to the fact that the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz has more heart than the ultra laid-back Robbie and you have a player that we will not miss one bit in this frame of mind.

Come to think of it, both Jo and Elano have the same languid attitude and we know what happened to them. Brazilians have not exactly lit up the Premier League over the years bar a Juninho or Gilberto Silva.

Roberto Mancini has come in with his own philosophies and players in mind and has been linked with a raft of Seria A players. Now I'm no expert,but Italians haven't exactly been raging successes in England over the years either.

Paulo Di Canio, Vialli  and Zola come to mind, but too many others like Maccarone, Corradi and Bianchi (shudders) have failed to adapt to the rigours of our league.

Northern Europeans and Argentinians such as Kompany, Tevez, De Jong and Zabaleta all seemed to ave acclimatised much easier to the passionate hstle and busytle of the Premier League and if you believed all the papers you would be slightly worried.

Of course Mancini has already pulled off a masterstroke by bringing in the supremely experienced leader that is Patrick Viera to the club and when he comes back his qualities will be invaluable to the team (he might have made a difference last night).

Amongst the Seria A and a Liga names mentioned are Gago of Real Madrid and Motta of Roma. I can't confess to know much about the latter, Gago has always flattered to deceive when I've watched him strolling around the park for both club and country. 

Madrid reportedly turned down City's thirteen million pound bid and want another four million for the Argentinian's signature.

The unhappy twenty three year old's agent, Marcelo Lombilla, said:

'We want to speak again with (Real director general) Jorge Valdano and perhaps then the situation will change.'

Gago, who is also wanted on loan by Boca Juniors himself said:

'I want to play and that has become impossible at Real.'


Two players continually mentioned and sure to suit the Premiership would be Chellini from Juventus and Cassano, the Bellamy of Italian football. The latter could be our Di Canio and creative spark and Chellini is the best defender in Italy at the moment and plays on the left.

For me Bayern's Ribery would be a great signing and would look great in an attack of Bellamy and Tevez away from home. The claims that he is a lazy player are ill-founded and he certainly has the skill  and winning mentality to go with his desire.

The fact that he is injured could be a blessing in disguise, as normally world class players don't move in the January transfer window.

More likely however would be the signing of Borough's England U21 winger Adam Johnson who for me is a more complete player than Moses of Palace, our other Championship target.

I've seen him quite a bit for club and country and looks a very good prospect, although Bolton's midfielder Muamba  often looks the best player on the park at U21 level.

One things for sure, and thats come Sunday night we'll know how good the manager is in the transfer market during what is traditionally a difficult time to get quality trouble-free players in.


Players we should get in:

Chellini
Cassano
Ribery

Players we are likely to sign

Motta
Johnson
Cassano
and perhaps Gago