Now that the Premier League season has come to a close, City travelled to America for their post-season tour, but Manuel Pellegrini will need to act quickly in the transfer window.
Clubs have already made headway in the transfer window, city rivals Manchester United have already wrapped up the signing of Memphis Depay, meanwhile Tottenham are reportedly in talks with soon to be out of contract Burnley striker Danny Ings already, City will have to follow suit.
Many at the club already would say City’s biggest transfers of the coming summer could be two players that already play for the Blues. Yaya Toure and James Milner’s futures still hang in the balance after doubts about their places at the Etihad in recent months.
32-year-old Toure failed to emulate his performances of last year’s title winning season in this campaign just gone. The Ivorian has been linked with a move to Inter Milan and a reunion with former City manager Roberto Mancini.
Milner has reportedly been unhappy with his lack of first team action over the last few seasons, despite being involved in 45 games this season, his most in a single campaign since his arrival back in 2010. The 29-year-old England international has been heavily linked with a move to league rivals Liverpool this summer.
Many fans believe City will be very active in this summer’s transfer window and manager Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping that any business can be wrapped up before the start of pre-season, allowing any new players to settle in before the start of the new Premier League season.
Recent months of transfer speculation has seen City linked with superstars such as Paul Pogba, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Wilshere, meanwhile the Blues will also be looking to continue offloading players this summer in order to abide by Financial Fair Play rules after receiving a £49 million fine last summer – although the regulations have been relaxed this time around.
With Alvaro Negredo likely to complete his permanent move to Valencia, with those finances likely to cover the transfer of Wilfried Bony, Pellegrini will be looking to bring money into the club as well as players – with Edin Dzeko another name who has been linked with a move away, to AS Roma.
Scott Sinclair has already left the club on a permanent basis, heading to Aston Villa, after failing to secure any sort of first team place since he was signed back in 2012.
The Chilean will be holding talks with board members including Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak and club chief executive Ferran Soriano about his own transfer targets and who he believes the club needs in order to regain the Premier League next season from Chelsea.
The most talked about transfer in recent weeks has been the future of Juventus ace Paul Pogba and whether he will move on from Italian football, linked with a move to Real Madrid and former club Manchester United.
Eliaquim Managla, City’s biggest transfer signing from last summer, believes signing someone like Pogba would be a massive boost for any club. “He’s a great player who has everything,” he said. “Manchester City or any team would love to have him in their ranks.”
Frenchman Pogba has been valued at around £75-80 million with only the biggest financially backed clubs likely to get anywhere near a signature, with Real Madrid almost destined to try and make him one of their ‘Galactico’signings.
City have once again been linked with Madrid’s very own Isco, a player who City previous tried to sign when he was at Malaga. The Spanish midfielder played with Pellegrini as his boss during his time at Malaga and City will be on alert if the Spaniard decides he wants to leave the Bernabeu.
If last summer was anything to go by City had the Fernando deal wrapped up early on, followed by the big-money signing of Mangala from FC Porto in early August along with Bacary Sagna and goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
This summer City will hope that case to be the same again as it allows any newcomers, whether it may be a Pogba or Sterling, to settle into the club as City look to win their third title in five years next season.
City are far from a Madrid side who buy ‘galacticos’ but there is nothing quite like a big-money signing to get the fans, and players included, pumped up for the season ahead.
The completion of the City Football Academy last season will hopefully see youth slowly make its way into the City starting line-up, and if youngster George Evans’ strike against Toronto FC on Wednesday was anything to go by, the City fans can look forward to talent rising through the ranks.
