It is another busy summer for the money men at Man City who are on the verge of splashing out £175m on new talent this summer, having spent £60m on David Silva, Jerome Boateng and Yaya Toure this week alone. Next up on the shopping list of the Manchester side are Lazio’s Aleksandar Kolarov, Benfica’s David Luiz and Aston Villa’s James Milner that offers are expected for over the next few days. The number is set to dwarf the £120m spent last summer and will be the biggest spending spree undertaken by any British club. The amount of money City are spending signals their intent to challenge for the Premier League title next season, although it is a lot more than anyone expected considering they failed to qualify for this seasons Champions League.
Other players who have been named as possible signings include Liverpool’s star striker Fernando Torres, Inter Milan teenager Mario Balotelli, Palermo’s Edinson Cavani, Mirko Vucinic of Roma and Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema. Expect to hear about more names before the start of the Premier League season!
On the other end of things, City are looking to offload several big name stars. Already out the door are Valeri Bojinov (Parma, £4.5m), Martin Petrov (Bolton, free), Benjani (released), Sylvinho (released), Robert Mak (Nuremberg, £500k), Stuart Taylor (released) and Andrew Mitchell (Rangers, free)
Players who are set to leave include several top stars. Robinho has signaled his intent not to stay, with several clubs looking for his signature after a decent showing at the World Cup. Craig Bellamy and Jo are the other two goal scorers who City are looking to get rid of before signing a new striker. Nedum Onouha is awaiting a bid from Everton while Shaun Wright-Phillips is on his way to Aston Villa. Finally, Stephen Ireland has been told he is surplus to requirements with many of the top teams in England looking for his signature. Reports have local rivals Man Utd and Liverpool in pursuit.
