Due to Financial Fair Play in this past transfer window limiting us to a net spend of £49 million, Manchester City were unable to fix a few problems that occurred over pre-season. We certainly need to sign players and below are a few options that haven’t already been widely discussed in the media or by simple social media gossip.
Ricardo Rodriguez- Few in European football can claim to have had the meteoric rise to success as Rodriguez. He was just a teenager at Zurich, a club with a history of unearthing young players when he was signed by Wolfsburg for a surprising £7.5 million fee. However that fee has been an absolute bargain for the former Bundesliga champions, as he has turned into one of the best left backs in Europe and he is only 22 years old. Rodriguez possesses arguably one of the best deliveries in Europe as he has proven with 10 assists in his last 42 appearances for the club. He also whips in a mean free kick like our very own left back Aleksandar Kolarov, and in addition to this he is an excellent defender, particularly in one-on- one situations where he very nearly always makes the correct decision. It is perhaps surprising he hasn’t been snapped up yet, as very few clubs can say they are that strong in the left back position. He is an expert at creating chances and he would be an excellent addition to the squad. It is difficult to guess the sort of fee we would have to pay, but I would estimate around £20 million as good left backs are rare. However this is still a realistic signing, seeing as his contract expires in 2016.
Heung Min Son- the South Korean is a special player; he can play in any of the front 4 positions, can use both feet and is clinical in front of goal. Since leaving Hamburg for Leverkusen he has managed 15 goals in 42 games for Leverkusen and that has come from a left wing position. He has constantly been moved around in the system and wherever he has played he has flourished. He was utilised on the left of a front 3 under Sami Hyypia but Roger Schmidt prefers him on the left of a front 4 where he can cut in and link up with Calhanoglu and Bellarabi. He prefers to cut inside, which is what we need from our wingers as both James Milner and Jesus Navas prefer to go on the outside of a defender and whip a cross in, which is why we have become predictable in recent weeks. Son is also a massive threat on the counter attack, this could help in the big games and the European games where we must become more cautious and professional in our approach. The only block here is the fact Son is still on a long contract. However with Leverkusen’s selling history a purchase here would be likely for a fee of around £25-30 million. This isn’t cheap but we won’t find a 2 footed young winger for any cheaper than that.
Enzo Perez – The Benfica midfielder has been pivotal in the recent flurry of success that Benfica have achieved. He is an excellent all-rounder who can pass, shoot, tackle and most importantly make quick and effective transitions from defence to attack by using his excellent dribbling skills. He is extremely hard working and if we continue to persist with 4-2-2-2 then that could be huge as the 4 midfielders all need to be hard workers for that particular tactic to work. Perez is on the back of a fantastic year at Benfica and a very impressive World Cup in which he managed to effectively provide balance in an Argentina side which started with 3 strikers. Perez shouldn’t be as expensive as a young option like Pogba, but if Toure leaves it may be necessary to recruit another all-rounder; he doesn’t have the power of Yaya but he makes up for it with excellent and quick dribbling.
Koke- the Atletico Madrid midfielder may seem a more obvious choice than the others listed, but he truly has world class potential and he has already proven that to the world. He is a terrific playmaker and he has experience playing in a 442 which is the system we are going to persist with makes Koke a no-brainer in tactical terms. He has 8 assists from 12 games this year and many of them come from corners where we seem to lack a threat this season. He can both play as a crossing wide man and a playmaking wide man and the joint option isn’t a luxury we have in our squad. He can also play in the centre of the park meaning we can rotate our limited options more often if we need to. He will not come cheap as he is arguably the best young midfielder in world football, however I believe he could be tempted to join us with the possibility of having a higher chance of winning more titles here than in Spain. However he would probably cost over 40 million pounds.
Morgan Schneiderlin- A player I am a huge fan of and certainly a player who could have huge potential within our midfield. Schneiderlin is an excellent central midfield player who can not only intercept the ball excellently and make key interceptions, but he can also drive an attack forward as we have seen this year with his 3 goals from 10 games. Schneiderlin completes around 1 key pass a game which, considering he plays the deepest of a midfield four, is an excellent return. He also attempts 6 long balls per game with around 5 of these being accurate. He has a terrific range of passing and would be an excellent addition to help solidify our midfield options. We are not in desperate need of midfielders but one of Schneiderlin or Perez would most certainly help us challenge more in Europe, especially considering Lampard is leaving and Zuculini will likely exit the club on loan yet again next season, along with the fact Yaya Toure’s future is still uncertain.
Mauro Icardi- As we only have 3 strikers now we are certainly feeling the loss of Alvaro Negredo at times, his goalscoring prowess and sheer power has left a huge hole in the team and it is one Icardi could fill. The Inter Milan forward is coming to be regarded as one of the best finishers in Europe after a season of 7 goals in 12 games despite playing in a 3-5-2 system under Walter Mazzarri, which didn’t suit his talents at all. Icardi is a terrific player who can score with both feet. He currently has 4 right footed goals and 3 left footed goals this season and most of these come inside the box which is where we get most of our attempts on goal due to the playmaking of Silva and Nasri. Icardi wouldn’t come cheap, but the sort of players we need to target shouldn’t be coming cheap unless they are on a Bosman. Icardi would be another goalscorer, a department in which we’re lacking., Aguero has 17 goals this season but after that is Lampard with 4 goals, and really another goalscorer is required to challenge on multiple fronts.
