'Deal done' for Stefan Savic

[john@staustell]

Mancini seems to have stated last night that we have done a deal already for Stefan Savic from Partizan Belgrade. This is confirmed in the second article about all the naughty boys training separately!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011 ... ester-city?

Roberto Mancini has said Carlos Tevez will not be leaving Manchester City this summer, after the club failed to agree a swap deal with Internazionale for the Italian club's striker Samuel Eto'o. Mancini also said a deal for the Partizan Belgrade defender Stefan Savic has been done and hinted at an interest in Arsenal's Samir Nasri.

"Yes, of course Tevez will stay, he is a fantastic player," the former Inter manager Mancini said. "There was talk of an exchange with Eto'o but Inter did not want to sell. I would say a deal for Savic has been done, but Nasri? No, not yet."

City have been linked with a variety of players in the transfer window and Mancini did nothing to quell speculation, naming a selection from Serie A. "I like Ezequiel Lavezzi, Marek Hamsik and Edinson Cavani. I like Javier Pastore a little less. Then, when I think of Udinese, I can think of Pablo Armero and Mauricio Isla. And I must say Antonio Di Natale. It's a pity that he is now getting on in years."

Nasri himself was reported on Saturday to have bemoaned his lack of trophies since arriving at Arsenal in 2008, saying that money is not his motivating factor. Negotiations have stalled on a new deal at the Emirates and, with the Frenchman's contract running out next summer, Arsenal may choose to cash in on him now rather than wait and lose him on a free transfer. Nasri's situation has sparked reported interest from both Manchester clubs and Chelsea.

"We already earn huge wages," Nasri said. "The priority is to make a big career and to win titles … With no titles under your belt, you can't be in the list for the Ballon D'Or. I came to England to get trophies because I haven't won anything in my career. I am hungry for titles. I play football because I love this sport and want to feel the emotion of winning. Lifting a trophy all together, this is the beauty and sense of team sports."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2010666/Bellamy-frozen-Mancini-names-City-chosen-ones.html?

Manchester City 'outcasts', including Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bridge, will be kept apart from team-mates when the pre-season training starts on Tuesday.
Manager Roberto Mancini is planning for the players he wants to leave City this summer to either work separately from his first-team squad or stay away altogether.
Emmanuel Adebayor and Shaun Wright-Phillips are among others not considered by Mancini as members of his first-team group ahead of the club's pre-season tour to America later this month.

City's stance underlines their desperation to offload players before they name their 25-man squad for the Premier League.
Goalkeeper Shay Given has turned down a move to West Bromwich so he can join Aston Villa once they have agreed a fee with City, while Jerome Boateng, Roque Santa Cruz, Aleksandar Kolarov and Jo may also go for the right price.
Strikers Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli are all staying at the club.

The biggest spenders in the Premier League are finally ready to spring into action in this transfer window.
Mancini last night claimed to have wrapped up a £6 million deal for 21-year-old Montenegro defender Stefan Savic, who impressed against England in their Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley last season, while club officials also hope to complete a £7m move for Arsenal left-back Gael Clichy in the next week.
The Italian has also sung the praises of Napoli trio Ezequiel Lavezzi, Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamsik, who helped Diego Maradona's former club qualify for the Champions League last season, while football adviser Brian Marwood has not ended interest in £38m Udinese raider Alexis Sanchez - even though the player wants to join Barcelona.
Mancini gave a wide-ranging interview to Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport yesterday, in which he outlined his joy at starting a second full season at City, having won the FA Cup in his first.
'I work on the training ground but I also like the responsibility you get in England of participating actively in the life of the club,' he said.

'I speak to lawyers, managers and am involved in negotiations for players. After 30 years in Italy, being in England has enriched me. The Premier League is the best even if the climate is not. I'm not nostalgic for Italy, apart from the tortellini and the pesto.'
Mancini expressed his confidence that City will go on to bigger and better things having qualified for the Champions League in a season in which they also claimed their first trophy since 1976.
He said: 'I don't want to make a guest appearance in the Champions League but to show we are there on merit and to be leaders.'

[Wooders]

Wouldn't mind cavani or levezzi - don't know much about this David fella though he's there to take joleans place in the squad I guess

[StrikeAnywhere]

Wouldn't mind cavani or levezzi - don't know much about this David fella though he's there to take joleans place in the squad I guess

to be fair i hadn't seen all that much of lavezzi but he was awful against bolivia the other morning.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I don't understand these players Lombardo and Mancini are talking about. Lavezzi is much MUCH worse version of Tevez. Cavani is almost carbonbase copy of Edin Dzeko.

Been HUGE fan of Marek Hamsik for a while though and I'd love to see us sign him. Having said that, we don't really play with "natural number 10 position" and we already have several attacking players in relatively free role so I'm not sure whether he'd fit in. My dream, of course, still is that we take someone like Barry off the starting line up and replace him with technical skillfull playmaker who can also contribute in defending. Hamsik and Nasri would fit that description so I'm positive we are doing something about it

Javier Pastore is way too raw at this stage and shouldn't be even considered. Oddly enough, not only does he look lot like Stephen Irelend, he also plays just like him.

[Ted Hughes]

I think the Italians get Mancini pissed & he just talks bollocks to them. I don't believe for one second that Khaldoon would have sanctioned a swap for Tevez & Eto'o & then Bob used the word 'sell' in relation to it. If we were buying him, we wouldn't be swapping Tevez as well as money, so wtf is he going on about? Pissed.

I don't think Savic is being signed as a replacement for any of our main defenders, more likely a replacement for Boateng.

I don't want any of the other players Bob mentioned barring Nasri who would be a good 'square peg in a square hole' signing & really suit our team & I'd have Pastore simply for my own personal entertainment value. Would make no sense for football reasons atm.

I hope we pull one spectacular move out of the bag in this window though. It gives everyone at the club an extra buzz. My choice would be Aguero. I just think he'd suit us down to the ground & cover every attacking position, even if he had to play somewhere he's not used to. He'd just get on with it & do it.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I hope we pull one spectacular move out of the bag in this window though. It gives everyone at the club an extra buzz. My choice would be Aguero. I just think he'd suit us down to the ground & cover every attacking position, even if he had to play somewhere he's not used to. He'd just get on with it & do it.

I was thinking the same the other day. Aguero is available (for right money), his game would suit Premier League well (I predict) and since we mostly play three man attack he could play anywhere across front three. Also he covers lot of ground which is essential for that three front man system.

I'm sure we'd always find room for him. May it be Tevez-Dzeko-Aguero or Silva-Aguero-Tevez or whatever. One/some of them will always be injured anyway.

[Ted Hughes]

I hope we pull one spectacular move out of the bag in this window though. It gives everyone at the club an extra buzz. My choice would be Aguero. I just think he'd suit us down to the ground & cover every attacking position, even if he had to play somewhere he's not used to. He'd just get on with it & do it.

I was thinking the same the other day. Aguero is available (for right money), his game would suit Premier League well (I predict) and since we mostly play three man attack he could play anywhere across front three. Also he covers lot of ground which is essential for that three front man system.

I'm sure we'd always find room for him. May it be Tevez-Dzeko-Aguero or Silva-Aguero-Tevez or whatever. One/some of them will always be injured anyway.

With him in the squad, we'd be sorted imo. I'm amazed he's not been our No 1 target but perhaps he has for all we know ?

[twosips]

http://twitter.com/#!/karlsentk - top scout fella - always trust his opinions normally. He rates Savic highly. Said this -

stefan savic/man city: very interesting centre back, seen him several times this year. calm, cultured, never stresses when under pressure

savic: good passer of the ball, mobile, reasonably quick. still very young, not extremely dominant but it'll come

I said he sounds quite Smalling esque from that description adn got this reply -

i'd say smalling is more physical and stronger in the air, savic even more of a 'footballer'

Someone else asked if he's better than Boateng - response:

i pefer savic as he's a better footballer and more mobile. boateng is fast but needs 10 meters tl get into the stride

Promising then :)

[blues2win]

We really need a top class wideman with pace to burn. I can absolutely see why they're so keen on Sanchez. Love to see him here. I assume Clichy might be first choice left back with Kolarov only coming in for easier home matches plus as wide midfield from time to time. Savic would replace Boateng as Ted says. I still think we also need a classy midfielder to replace Barry as first choice. If we continue with two defensive midfielders you want someone who is left footed with pace and who can come forward with profit from to time leaving De Jong as cover. Any suggestions? I assume we also need a new reserve goalkeeper. Anyone who thinks Taylor's good enough has to consider how they'd feel if Joe was out for six weeks. Given Joe's age I'd go for an experienced keeper in the 36-8 age range who wouldn't mind bench warming. I can't see a really promising young keeper wanting to come here with Joe blocking his path.

We still need to shift a lot of bodies though. SWP, Bridge, Caicedo, Bellamy, Adebayor, RSC, Boateng, Given. Crikey that's a lot and I've probably missed some...

[halnone]

who would this savic guy replace?

[john@staustell]

who would this savic guy replace?

I suspect he will take Dedryck Boyata's place in the squad. Dedryck may make it one day, he may not. But when we're talking about winning titles here Bobby isn't going to hang about to find out.

A good loan to the Championship for Dedders.

[twosips]

Seems like they're signing because they think he's good. Not necessarily to replace anyone. Though given the fact that Boateng clearly wants out it'd make sense to sign a replacement for him I guess.

I think Mancini rates Boyata and wants a couple of youngsters in back up. United have Smalling and Jones - so why can't we have a couple of apprentices?

[paulmclaren]

Wouldn't mind cavani or levezzi - don't know much about this David fella though he's there to take joleans place in the squad I guess

If that is true that has to be one of the most unfair decisions Mancini will of made since being manager.
I though since Lesscott come in the side he was probably top 3 performer from then on in till the end of the season, very unfair if true.

[BobKowalski]

I think the Italians get Mancini pissed & he just talks bollocks to them. I don't believe for one second that Khaldoon would have sanctioned a swap for Tevez & Eto'o & then Bob used the word 'sell' in relation to it. If we were buying him, we wouldn't be swapping Tevez as well as money, so wtf is he going on about? Pissed.

I don't think Savic is being signed as a replacement for any of our main defenders, more likely a replacement for Boateng.

I don't want any of the other players Bob mentioned barring Nasri who would be a good 'square peg in a square hole' signing & really suit our team & I'd have Pastore simply for my own personal entertainment value. Would make no sense for football reasons atm.

I hope we pull one spectacular move out of the bag in this window though. It gives everyone at the club an extra buzz. My choice would be Aguero. I just think he'd suit us down to the ground & cover every attacking position, even if he had to play somewhere he's not used to. He'd just get on with it & do it.

Pretty much bang on with the getting pissed part. Assuming all this springs from the interview Mancini gave the other day at 1:00 in the morning in a tavern on the coast getting stuck into the vino and chatting shit with a couple of journos. The British media have taken various bits and pieces and run with them although one report I read said the Eto/Tevez swap 'never happened' as in its all bollocks not that it never happened because Inter wouldn't sell (yeah right).

Mancini did say the Savic deal was done which I am pleased about though...

[Green & Blue]

who would this savic guy replace?

I suspect he will take Dedryck Boyata's place in the squad. Dedryck may make it one day, he may not. But when we're talking about winning titles here Bobby isn't going to hang about to find out.

A good loan to the Championship for Dedders.

Yeah good shout, would like to see him shipped out to Sven at Leicester for a season and see how he gets on.

[colonel_muck]

I cannot for the life of me understand why people think sergio aguero would be a good signing. far too lightweight for england, and whenever i watch him (admittedly not that often) he never impresses me. same with hamsik. would take nasri over those two by a country mile.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I cannot for the life of me understand why people think sergio aguero would be a good signing. far too lightweight for england, and whenever i watch him (admittedly not that often) he never impresses me. same with hamsik. would take nasri over those two by a country mile.

There's difference between being small and lightweight. Silva is small but not lightweight ie he can ride tackles. Robinho is small and lightweight ie drops down like (very small) bag of shite from slightest of touch. Aguero is definitely former.

Oh yes, and there are relatively big/tall players who are "lightweight" imo out there.

[BadKompany]

Boyatta loaned to a championship club??

Are some of you pissed? He's already better than the majority of mid to lower team prem centre halves......

A loan to Bolton or Wigan maybe.

[Ruthless]

I don't understand these players Lombardo and Mancini are talking about. Lavezzi is much MUCH worse version of Tevez. Cavani is almost carbonbase copy of Edin Dzeko.

Been HUGE fan of Marek Hamsik for a while though and I'd love to see us sign him. Having said that, we don't really play with "natural number 10 position" and we already have several attacking players in relatively free role so I'm not sure whether he'd fit in. My dream, of course, still is that we take someone like Barry off the starting line up and replace him with technical skillfull playmaker who can also contribute in defending. Hamsik and Nasri would fit that description so I'm positive we are doing something about it

Javier Pastore is way too raw at this stage and shouldn't be even considered. Oddly enough, not only does he look lot like Stephen Irelend, he also plays just like him.

Why, is he absolutely shite?

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Boyatta loaned to a championship club??

Are some of you pissed? He's already better than the majority of mid to lower team prem centre halves......

A loan to Bolton or Wigan maybe.

I thought that was odd comment as well. If we were lower midtable Premier League club, I'd be comfortable going into season with Boyata as a starter. Don't think Championship football would help to aid his developement much anymore.