Rumours of a move for Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba refuse to go away – the Frenchman is linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium once again this morning.
The 21-year old is likely to have a long queue of clubs in for him in the summer, according to a story in the Independent.
If City do go in for Pogba, they will be in competition with Chelsea, PSG, Arsenal and Real Madrid but the midfielder believes he isn’t worth a penny.
He explains: "I am worth zero euros.
“I am worth nothing unless I work on the field in every single game.
"I need to do more because I want to be a champion just like Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo and Giorgio Chiello.
“I want to be one of the best players in the world and to be able to reach this level, I need to play well. I focus on working on the pitch and giving all I've got for the squad."
Zero euros, you say? Certainly sounds like good value judging by his recent performances in Serie A!
Moving on, City’s UEFA Champions League last 16 tie against FC Barcelona might still be more than a month away but FC Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez has already been contemplating the clash.
When asked which players from the Premier League he would like to see at the Camp Nou, the 34-year old was quick to mention an Etihad Stadium favourite.
“David Silva and Cazorla... there is some great current talent in Spanish football who I’d sign for Barcelona,” Xavi is quoted as saying on the Goal.com website.
“All the Champions League ties are complicated; our matches against Manchester City will be very difficult.”
Elsewhere, new signing Wilfried Bony has been discussing his move to the champions and has revealed that the opportunity to play in the Champions League was too good to pass up.
"The Champions League is a competition I haven't played in yet,” he is reported to have said on the ESPN website. “I really want to feel it and enjoy it - I want to be in the action, not watching it on TV.
"It's good motivation for me.
“Pellegrini talked to me [and said] 'I really need you here, you will be part of our project. I hope you will enjoy it here and I think it's the right way for you to get one step more in your career and your life. I think you will enjoy here.'"
We think so too…
Finally for today, Wilfried and Yaya Toure get their African Cup of Nations tilt under way today with their opening group match against Guinea.
Toure is captaining the Ivory Coast following the retirement of Didier Drogba after the World Cup and he’s hoping to end the Elephants’ 23-year wait for success in the tournament.
"I enjoy playing in Africa, and sharing things with my people," Toure declared.
"I am very proud to be here. We just want to start and do our best.
"Guinea qualified well, they're a good team.”
Vincent Kompany insists defeat to Arsenal will spur Manchester City on to a title charge
Manuel Pellegrini's men were beaten 2-0 by the Gunners on Sunday afternoon but their captain is remaining positive
Vincent Kompany insists Manchester City’s shock defeat to Arsenal will not signal the beginning of the end of their title defence.
City’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium saw the reigning Premier League champions slip five points behind leaders and title rivals Chelsea, with 16 games left to play.
The two title contenders meet at Stamford Bridge on January 31 in a game City boss Manuel Pellegrini has admitted his side cannot afford to lose if they want to retain their crown.
But defiant Kompany claimed losing to Arsenal will mean City are even more fired up for the Chelsea showdown, with Pellegrini’s men determined to prove Sunday’s defeat was no more than a blip.
“In theory it should be better for us now, because we’ll be fired up for that more, definitely,” said Kompany. “We’ve always been great in games like this so I’m actually looking forward to it.
“You want to win, always, so any result that’s not a victory you’re disappointed. But, with that said, we’ve been in situations like this before.
“It won’t affect the way we look at the Premier League, it won’t affect the way we look at the Champions League or the FA Cup. We’ll just make sure we’re better next game.
“We’re always liable to kick off a massive run and that’s the kind of club that we are. Maybe this run has stopped, but the next one should be coming soon hopefully.
“I’ve seen the same desire as I have year-in, year-out and that will never change. We have been without Kun [Sergio Aguero], myself, Yaya [Toure] and David Silva for a long period of time and yet we’re still here, five points behind Chelsea.
“If you’d said that to us a month ago we would have said, yes we’ll take it. It’s good, it’s highs and lows, but that’s what it’s all about.”
Kompany made a less than convincing return against Arsenal after five weeks out with a hamstring injury, giving away a first-half penalty and looking off the pace following his enforced absence.
But the defender, 28, said he had come back at the right time and insisted he would be back to his very best after a run of games to regain his match fitness and sharpness.
“People who know me see I work like an animal when I’m out,” said Kompany. “I want to be back stronger and, to be fair, except for the result, it was a good game back.
“So, going two, three, four games in, it’s good for me and I’ve come back at the right time as well.”
City jetted off for a warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi immediately after the Arsenal loss, with Kompany claiming the five-day break was just what they needed.
“It comes at the right time, funnily enough,” said Kompany. “The Premier League is relentless. We’ve seen all the images of foreign teams in Qatar and wherever.
“Although I think it’s the most special league in the world because we play over that Christmas period and that should never change, if you do get a chance to get out of it then it’s not a bad thing.
“We have a game on Wednesday we have to play too, against my old club Hamburg, so I want us to do well.”
Kompany said he was excited by City’s £28million capture of Wilfried Bony from Swansea, with the striker making his debut on his return from the African Cup of Nations next month.
“I rate him, I really do,” said Kompany. “But as we’ve seen, it’s never about individuals. If you put together a group of strong players then you have a chance.
“I think we need him more than ever, because you’ve seen the injuries we’ve had. If we’re serious about the Champions League, if we’re serious about the league and the FA Cup, then you need good players like him. You can’t get enough of them.
“If you look at all the big teams around us, they have the same kind of strike-force. You do need it. The teams we’re competing with have the same tools and it’s as simple as that. I quite enjoyed facing him in matches, but I’ll face him in training more now.”
Xavi: Man City's Silva would be top of my shopping list
Xavi is coming to the end of his illustrious career with the Catalan giants, although he is still a first-team regular with Barcelona and will face City in the Champions League last 16.
Barcelona legend Xavi would put Manchester City's David Silva at the top of his shopping list if he were manager at the Nou Camp.
Xavi is coming to the end of his illustrious career with the Catalan giants, although he is still a first team regular with Barcelona and will face City in the Champions League last 16.
Asked who he would sign Xavi said: "Silva, Cazorla… There is some great current talent in Spanish football who I’d sign for Barcelona."
Xavi added on the European clash: "All the ties are complicated; our matches against Manchester City will be very difficult".
BELCHING BOLLOX
An Argument for Why Matija Nastasic Will Not Play for Manchester City Again
Nastasic's end at City was nothing like his beginning.
Matija Nastasic will not play for Manchester City again because Manuel Pellegrini has no use for him and because Roberto Mancini is not coming back to the Etihad.
"Schalke have completed the transfer of Serbia defender Matija Nastasic from Manchester City," the Associated Press reported recently (h/t ESPNFC.com). "Nastasic will join the Bundesliga club on loan until the end of the season but Schalke have the option to buy out his City contract, which runs through 2017."
Nastasic's coda at City underscores how temporary a professional athlete's security and status always are.
Not long ago, Nastasic looked to be a building block for the future that had appreciated significantly from the reported £12 million he cost to acquire in August 2012. Really, he was the only City signing from the summer of 2012 who amounted to anything in sky blue.
Scott Sinclair, Maicon, Javi Garcia and Jack Rodwell were all crushing disappointments for City, but Nastasic emerged in the second half of the 2012-13 season to form a terrifying partnership with Vincent Kompany.
Typical City's David Mooney observed recently that while Nastasic bloomed under Mancini, he all but disappeared once Pellegrini took over:
“
When Manuel Pellegrini arrived, the Chilean announced everybody would start his tenure with a clean slate. But the ‘Year Zero’ approach punishes those who had performed the best – just as Nastasic had excelled, he had to do it all again.
” Nastasic was the presumptive starter alongside Kompany to begin the 2013-14 season. But he sustained a nasty injury in a preseason tournament that cost him his starting place. Then he picked up a knee injury that all but ended his season.
If you had to pick the moment where Nastasic's City career effectively ended, you would probably pick this one.
Nastasic made only 11 Premier League starts last season, 10 fewer than he did in 2012-13, after beginning that season on the bench. Unfortunately for Nastasic, those starts included some woeful performances, none worse than his mishap at Stamford Bridge.
And this year, Nastasic has been practically invisible at City.
"By mid-October," Mooney noted, "Pellegrini told a press conference: 'I think that we have four centrebacks: Kompany, (Martin) Demichelis, (Eliaquim) Mangala, (Dedryck) Boyata.' When he was prompted by one of the journalists, he then added that he 'forgot Nastasic, also.'”
Managerial disapproval does not get clearer than that.
It is not money that motivated this loan deal with Schalke. City have invested plenty in their back line, including the extravagant purchase of Mangala, which continues to be a questionable investment.
Rather, it is Pellegrini's explicit and implicit refusal to consider Nastasic at all that has seen him off.
And it is not like a rash of injuries could conceivably compel Pellegrini to give Nastasic another chance after his loan deal expires. City suffered numerous injuries on the back line this past fall, but Nastasic never featured.
Nastasic's City epitaph was aptly put by Jamie Jackson in The Guardian: "Nastasic has fallen out of favour under Manuel Pellegrini, the manager believing Dedryck Boyata is a better prospect as a central defender despite the Serb coming close to being City’s player of the season two years ago for Roberto Mancini."
Nastasic may yet flourish again in football, but it will not happen on the blue side of Manchester.
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Manuel Pellegrini struggling to match Roberto Mancini's transfer hit-rate at Manchester City
The Blues boss' signings have struggled to excel at the Etihad and the Italian's buys remain City's key men.
The spirit of Roberto Mancini still infuses today’s Manchester City team, even if the Italian’s legacy has been soured in the last two years.
Never one to shy away from speaking his mind, Mancini said a year ago that he deserved a large dose of credit for the exploits of a team that was breaking goalscoring record sand playing great football on its way to the Premier League title.
“The players scoring the goals are players that I bought - Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure and David Silva,” Mancini said. “I think Pellegrini is doing a good job, but what is happening now at Manchester City, we did three years ago.”
It was typical Mancini, forthright and bold, but carrying an undeniable truth.
One year on, Mancini’s words still resonate. The world-class players at the heart of Manuel Pellegrini’s team, the driving force, are all Mancini signings – Aguero, Silva and Toure.
Throw in Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta, as stalwarts and vital supporting players – both signed before the 2008 takeover – and it becomes apparent that, in terms of signings, this is not Pellegrini’s team at all.
He brought a swagger and dash that had been missing in Mancini’s final, fretful season, as well as pouring oil on waters troubled by the fiery, uncompromising “Bobby Manc”.
But one thing that he has not done yet is properly enhance the squad he inherited – the jury is still out on the players recruited by Pellegrini, in conjunction with chief executive Ferran Soriano and football director Txiki Begiristain.
Indeed, it is perhaps the latter two who will carry the can if City DO flop.
Question marks have already been raised by the clumsy handling of the Frank Lampard fiasco, and the fact City were caned by Uefa’s financial fair play punishment, despite assurances that they would be OK.
And so far the only signings in the Pellegrini era who have been an unqualified success have been bargain captures Martin Demichelis and Lampard.
The big-money captures have not ripped up any trees, with the possible exception of Fernandinho, who had a fine debut season but has blown hot and cold in the current campaign. At £30million, he probably should be capable of filling Yaya Toure’s boots, but that has not been evident.
Alvaro Negredo had a spectacular five months before fading and being shipped out, although that was for a small profit.
Stevan Jovetic was probably the marquee signing of the summer of 2013, the one that most excited fans and observers – but he was consumed by injuries last season and is still fighting to find his true form in this campaign.
Jesus Navas has also sparkled in fits and starts, but the lack of consistency and doubts over his end product, have dogged him in his first two seasons. He was definitely better in harness with Negredo.
This summer’s captures are being judged too quickly, but there are already concerns about whether Eliaquim Mangala and Fernando will be good enough in the long term.
Mangala is young, but the price tag – which has been revealed to be £40million rather than the oft-cited £32million – weighs heavily around his neck. The fact that Pellegrini chose Demichelis ahead of him for the Arsenal game speaks volumes.
Fernando looked to be the answer to City’s problems in his first few games, and even though he has been unremarkable since returning from injury, he did enough to suggest he could come good.
The other two incoming players, Bacary Sagna and Willy Caballero, were brought in as competition for Pablo Zabaleta and Joe Hart, but have quickly settled into the number two slots in their positions.
If City’s challenge falters and they end up trophy-less, hard questions will be asked when the club executives report to Abu Dhabi.
Manchester United have placed a £50m valuation on Spanish goalkeeper David De Gea, 24, who is wanted by Real Madrid. (Daily Express)
Germany international defender Mats Hummels, 26, has disappointed Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea by saying he wants to stay at Borussia Dortmund. (Daily Star)
West Ham's New Zealand international Winston Reid, 26, has told the Upton Park club he will not sign a new contract and wants to join Arsenal. (Daily Mirror)
Bundesliga club Wolfsburg are ready to pay £23m for forward Andre Schurrle, 24, but Chelsea want £30m. (DSSC)
Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin, 23, is set to be offered a new deal by the club after impressing since his return from a loan spell at Charlton Athletic. (Independent)
Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher, 30, is being linked with a move to Valencia as he struggles to get playing time under manager Louis van Gaal. (Sky Sports understands)
But he could also opt to stay in the Premier League with West Ham keen on signing the Scotland international. (Times)
Highly rated Palermo forward Paulo Dybala, 21, will not be moving in the January transfer window, according to the club president, but he is set to move to the Premier League this summer. (Evening Standard)
West Brom are ready to more than double striker Saido Berahino's wage to keep the 21-year-old at the Hawthorns. (Sun)
Club Brugge's Australia international goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, 22, has confirmed he wants to play in the Premier League and is wanted by Liverpool. (Metro)
Tottenham's struggling Spanish striker Roberto Soldado, 29, is wanted by German club Bayer Leverkusen. (Daily Mirror)
Swansea's £5.5m bid for Stuttgart midfielder Alexandru Maxim, 24, has been rejected by the German club. (DSSC)
Manchester United are preparing a £15m bid to bring back defender Gerard Pique, 27, from Barcelona. (Daily Express)
Swansea will have to pay £8m in signing-on fees to striker Bafetimbi Gomis, 29, if he leaves the club this month. (Telegraph)
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that his relationship with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has deteriorated. (Guardian)
Southampton's Senegal midfielder Sadio Mane, 22 , has been texting manager Ronald Koeman to find out what has been happening in the Premier League while he is away at the African Cup of Nations. (DSSC)
Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho, 22, says he wants to put his friendships with fellow Brazilians Oscar, Willian, Felipe Luis and Ramires to one side as the Reds prepare to take on Chelsea in the League Cup semi-final. (Liverpool Echo)
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho claims the club had first refusal on both winger Angel Di Maria and striker Radamel Falcao before they were offered to Manchester United. (Sun)
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has denied Darren Bent's claims that the 30-year-old striker was dropped because the manager did not like him. (Birmingham Mail)
Louis van Gaal is planning to give goalkeeper Victor Valdes, 33, his Manchester United debut against Cambridge United on Friday. (Telegraph)
Chelsea captain John Terry says despite his side's five-point lead at the top of the Premier League they will not have proved anything until they win silverware. (Independent)
Former Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd says football's super-rich investors are only interested in London and Manchester and not the North East. (Newcastle Journal)
Tottenham are preparing to offer striker Harry Kane, 21, a new contract. (Times)
Hull City's Nigeria international Sone Aluko got a pleasant surprise when one of his heroes walked into the ITV studio where he was working at the Africa Cup of Nations. It was wildlife presenter Sir David Attenborough. "He silenced the room," said Aluko on Twitter.
Liverpool's France international defender Mamadou Sakho sent his best wishes to all the players at the Africa Cup of Nations, especially his Liverpool team-mate Kolo Toure, who is playing for Ivory coast.
Queens Park Rangers spot-kick specialist Charlie Austin was disgusted with Kevin Mirallas's penalty miss for Everton against West Brom and says regular penalty taker Leighton Baines should have stepped up. "Penalty taker should always take the pens", he tweeted.
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has told fans the club will not be introducing artificial crowd noise to improve the atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. (Metro)
Newcastle's sunshine break to Dubai got off to a wet start when they were greeted by heavy rain, forcing them to train indoors. (Daily Star)
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