DownSwinging.com

Manchester City has just completed a £12m purchase of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.  Barry is expected to earn around £100,000 a week.  This starts a potentially huge off-season for City, who will now look to further strengthen their squad with their, virtually, unlimited transfer budget.

Abu Dhabi United Group purchased the club for £200m in September of 2008.  The middle-eastern ownership has given Manchester City the most buying power of any club in the world.  The same day the take-over occurred in September, City shattered the British transfer record to land Brazilian striker Robinho for a fee of £32.5m from Real Madrid.

With the likes of Carlos Tevez, David Villa and Franck Ribery being targeted, the Citizens believe they are on the verge of turning the ‘big four’ into the ‘big five’.   I am always skeptical when a team thinks they will break into the big four; last year it was Tottenham, who started the season with 2 points from the first eight games and eventually fired their manager.  There is always an adjustment period following a busy summer, and with a very demanding board at the helm, City is one poor start to the season away from creating a lot of uneasiness at the Eastlands.

The thing that particularly has me unconvinced about this club’s plans is that it seems as though manager, Mark Hughes, is going after whichever players are being sought by other clubs.  While competing with clubs for a player’s signature is often a barrier that managers have to deal with, it should by no means dictate whether or not a player is a target.  

It seems to me, Manchester City is going for all-out firepower.  With Brazilian strikers Robinho and Jo already costing the club upwards of £50m, there is no need to sign both David Villa and Carlos Tevez.  The completion of those transfers would put City’s strike force at a value upwards of £100m.  Thus, putting a lot of pressure on the strikers who play.  Jo was purchased from CSKA Moscow for £18m last summer, and a player of his value needs to either be sold or played regularly.  As someone who watched City toil at mid-table last season, it is clear that they need two things: midfield creativity, from a player other than Steven Ireland, and one or two defensive rocks.

As of right now City need a center back with experience and a midfielder who could orchestrate the attack.  With Barry holding the midfield, City could build a very strong partnership in the middle of the park.  My thought would be to combine Barry’s tackling and experience with the pace and creativity of Real Madrid’s Wesley Sneijder or even Bayern’s Ribery.  Either way, I will find it entertaining to see how City spend this summer and how they will fare come August.  I just hope they don’t try to spend for the sake of spending, like it looks like they will.