Manchester City are about to embark on the sale of the century in order to whittle their squad down to 25 players as per Premier League rules.
Manager Roberto Mancini will have to make a decision on his 25 man squad for the coming season as City pursue the ultimate prize of winning the Premier League Title, meaning at least 12 of the current squad should they stay at Eastlands will be numberless until at least the next transfer window in January.
Amongst the players in trouble of being numberless are Pablo Zabeleta, Vincent Kompany, Nigel de Jong, Stephen Ireland, Shaun wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge, Micah Richards, Roque Santa Cruz, Nedum Onuoha, Jo, Felipe Caicedo, Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor and Craig Bellamy. Here is a player by player summary of those in trouble:
Pablo Zabeleta was bought as a defensive midfielder for £7.8m from Espanyol in August 2008 and has only featured in a City shirt in 56 games since his arrival.
Vincent Kompany was another defensive midfielder costing £6m from Hamburg and featured for City in 59 games since arriving in August 2008.
Nigel de Jong is another defensive midfielder who has failed to make an impression at Eastlands since arriving in January 2009 for £16m from Hamburg.
Stephen Ireland is said to have fallen-out with manager Roberto Mancini and will surely be one of the names not on the final 25 man list, hasn’t done himself any favours along the way with his lacklustre performances since Mancini’s arrival.
Shaun Wright-Phillips is another who may see the exit door at city, has failed to produce the goods since rejoining City from Chelsea for £8.5m in August 2008.
Wayne Bridge also looks set for the City exit door after signing from Chelsea for £10m, with City already splashing out nearly £20m on Alexsander Kolarov as his replacement.
Micah Richards has been told he can leave the club after falling down the pecking order in the City defence having come all the way up from their under age academy.
Roque Santa Cruz has been another expensive City flop since his £20m move from Blackburn, the striker only managed to score 3 goals in 19 games for City which was a far cry from what City expected from the striker.
Nedum Onuoha has already told how Manager Mancini doesn’t appreciate him and is looking to leave the club trouble is nobody wants him.
Jo cost £18m from CSKA Moscow in July 2008 and the striker never lived up to the price tag making only 9 appearances and scoring just 1 goal since his arrival.
Felipe Caicedo will also be seeing the exit door at City having cost £5.2m from Basel in January 2008 scoring 4 goals in 27 appearances for City.
Robinho just isn’t happy unless he is wearing a Brazil jersey and has been City’s biggest flop to-date, he cost £39m from Real Madrid and demanded a loan move to Brazilian out-fit Santos after only 6 Months at City.
Emmanuel Adebayor has never been the same player since his infamous goal celebrations in front of his former Club Arsenal’s fans which he was fined and suspended for he cost City £30m last Summer.
And finally we come to Craig Bellamy who has had more bust-ups with Mancini than any other player at Eastlands and is surely another striker on his way out of Eastlands having signed from West Ham for £14m.
