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Portugese press claim Manchester City are seriously considering a bid for the Benfica midfielder. I personally think it would be a brilliant signing.

How old is he? What position?

PeterParker wrote:How old is he? What position?

25 and defensive midfielder.

We were linked with him earlier in the summer, so he could be one we have been keeping an eye on in case the main targets prove too expensive or immovable.

Ted Hughes wrote:We were linked with him earlier in the summer, so he could be one we have been keeping an eye on in case the main targets prove too expensive or immovable.

we've been stalking him for months then....shouldn't be hard to tie up a deal in the next 4 days then i'd reckon.

i predict only Sinclair in, no one out, and Marwood out by Samhain once the new guy looks at his punch list and asks "what the fuck do you do again?"

Fucking hope to god i'm wrong about part of that. Activity to date portends a calmer close to the week than we all hope i believe.

And yes i'll eat crow stir fry every day for a week if we get something actually positive done this week.

cheers

He is a very similar player to de Rossi but a lot cheaper, he can play as a centre half and defensive midfielder, watched him against Chelsea in the champions league last season for benfica and he looked superb, would be a great signing in my opinion.

Fausto Salsano watched him vs Setubal.

Backofthenetjl wrote:He is a very similar player to de Rossi but a lot cheaper, he can play as a centre half and defensive midfielder, watched him against Chelsea in the champions league last season for benfica and he looked superb, would be a great signing in my opinion.

And a lot younger.

i know barry is not getting any younger and de jong might be on his way out; but with new addition Rodwell and adequate cover from people like Milner do we need to splash the cash on another defensive mid?

in my opinion we do need another player in this area but maybe its somewhere to invest in january. i think a left back and or a centre back are the two positions we need to be trying to fill this summer as they are areas in which we leak goals especially when kolorov, savic or K toure play. interesting to see what develops i would not be against having Garcia but feel there are more important areas to strengthen first

ESPN is reporting this too ...

Manchester City lining up late bids

Manchester City are preparing £60 million worth of bids in the next 24 hours to try to land Roberto Mancini's targets before the transfer window closes on Friday.

Jack Rodwell has been City's only summer signing and another midfielder is a priority as well as a central defender, while Scott Sinclair is already on his way this week to replace Adam Johnson with a source confirming "the deal is now close".

A well-placed City source told ESPN that there is still an "outside chance" of landing Mancini's No. 1 target Daniele De Rossi from Roma, after the midfielder committed his future to the Serie A club last week.

City will consider A move for Benfica defensive midfielder Javi Garcia if a final move for De Rossi fails. Mancini's first-team coach Fausto Salsano watched Garcia during Benfica's 5-0 win against Vitoria Setubal on Sunday.

Garcia's release clause is £23.8 million and he is contracted to Benfica until 2016, but the indications are that the club will sell at the right price.

City could also target Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez, as the Spaniard's proposed move to Bayern Munich continues to drag on.

Mancini is also keen on a centre-back but it is understood they will not renew their interest in Daniel Agger as Liverpool are seeking £25 million for the Dane. "The club are unlikely to revisit Agger," the source said.

Rodwell, Sinclair, Martinez and Garcia wouldn't be a bad transfer window. Plenty to work with and more talent added to our already skilful bunch (not including Savic).

Four days to go,i bet its all go in the offices banging a few contracts through on one of these.
Obviously leather face at the helm so it will be a few words a minute.

Busy week for us ... we'll find out who comes in, who goes out and then there's that small matter of Champions League draw where we could get very lucky with Porto/Olympiacos/Nordsjælland or get screwed by Barcelona/Juentus/BorussiaDortmund ...

AG7 wrote:Busy week for us ... we'll find out who comes in, who goes out and then there's that small matter of Champions League draw where we could get very lucky with Porto/Olympiacos/Nordsjælland or get screwed by Barcelona/Juentus/BorussiaDortmund ...

Looking forward to the CL draw. Honestly not bothered which sides we get drawn against. It will be good to see who we can match up against, which we can destroy and which teams cause us problems.
Exciting times ahead.

This deal is a must.

I wont lie ive never seen him play and i dont trust youtube, anyone tell me about him? is he any use? strengths weakness who they would compare him too etc?

Superbia wrote:This deal is a must.

De Rossi deal is a must. This is just fallback option. In fact, I predict he'd flop in England.

Niall Quinns Discopants wrote:

Superbia wrote:This deal is a must.

De Rossi deal is a must. This is just fallback option. In fact, I predict he'd flop in England.

Wow. Bold statement.

While we are being bold, I predict, without fail, he would succeed. The guy has all the attributes needed to make it in England. He did the business against Chelsea in Chumps League last year, will do it again for us.

Blue Blood wrote:
Wow. Bold statement.

While we are being bold, I predict, without fail, he would succeed. The guy has all the attributes needed to make it in England. He did the business against Chelsea in Chumps League last year, will do it again for us.

I feel the same.

Original Dub wrote:

Blue Blood wrote:
Wow. Bold statement.

While we are being bold, I predict, without fail, he would succeed. The guy has all the attributes needed to make it in England. He did the business against Chelsea in Chumps League last year, will do it again for us.

I feel the same.

Good. I haven't seen him much since he left Real. Maybe few times in Europe and some game in Portuguese league. So it's possible that he is much better than i think right now. I will still make the bold prediction. Cause making bold predictions is fun.