So, it wasn’t to be for Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis and Sergio Aguero as Argentina missed out narrowly on a third World Cup following a heartbreaking extra time defeat to Germany at the Maracana in a pulsating final chapter of what’s been a wonderful tournament.
We all know things move quickly in football and attention now swiftly turns to the Premier League with the Blues’ title defence kicking in off in just 33 days(!).
From now until the big kick-off we will bring you all the latest transfer rumour and gossip each morning to feast on, so without further ado…
It’s no secret that City are long-term admirers of French star Eliaquim Mangala and if the pixelated and paper pages of the media are to be believed, the Porto defender is on the verge of completing his move to the Etihad Stadium.
“Mangala arrived in Manchester for a medical over the weekend and City sources have confirmed that the move is close to being finalised” reports the Express.
He wanted time after the World Cup to think over the move, amid rumours he preferred Chelsea and Manchester United, but has now made up his mind to join the Premier League champions and is expected to become Vincent Kompany's partner in the heart of defence.
He will become the second player they have bought from Porto this summer following midfielder Fernando.”
“With goalkeeper Willy Caballero and right-back Bacary Sagna already signed, manager Manuel Pellegrini has completed his summer spending, inside UEFA's £49m cap imposed for breaches of financial fair play rules.”
Richard Tanner’s piece then goes on to hint as those who may be heading for the exit door this summer:
“But City will attempt to recoup some cash by off-loading Juventus target Matija Nastasic, Jack Rodwell, Micah Richards and Scott Sinclair. Out of contract pair Joleon Lescott [West Brom] and Gareth Barry [Everton] have already left.”
Edin Dzeko has issued a warning to City’s big-spending title rivals insisting that the champions will only get better next season. The Blues’ main competitors have all splashed the cash this summer in a bid to wrestle the Premier League crown away from the Etihad Stadium. Simon Bajkowski’s Manchester Evening News write-up carries quotes from a recent interview that the Bosnian hitman did with fashion magazine Glamoholic.
“"I think next season is going to be even more interesting.
“"We say that every year because in England you have like six or seven teams that want to win the league and definitely next season will be the same, and we want to do better this season as well so it'll be very interesting."”
Smile, you have just won the English title!
Why Manchester City Should Sell Star Midfielder Yaya Toure and Move on
Yaya Toure is trying to talk himself out of Manchester and, this one final time, Manchester City should give the giant Ivorian what he clearly wants.
If made, the decision to send Toure away would not be personal. It would be strictly business.
Toure has spent the summer accusing City of affronting their star midfielder personally.
First came the absurd birthday cake fiasco, as reported by Joe Mewis of the Mirror, which was really unbecoming of a player of Toure's professional reputation and stature in the game—to say nothing of his leadership role at City.
Next came a far more serious and heavy charge from Toure, as reported by Metro. If his allegations against City in reference to Ibrahim Toure's illness—from which Yaya's brother eventually succumbed—are true, Toure would be well within his rights to turn on City and never look back.
City have a real "smoke means fire" problem with Toure no matter how much of his griping carries any merit.
Ben Jefferson reported recently for the Express that it is an open question "whether Toure is determined to force through a move, and, if so, whether Chelsea or Liverpool can see off PSG in the race for the 31-year-old."
Jefferson's piece cited Le Parisien's quote from an unnamed international teammate: "He has accumulated too many grudges. ... He will do everything to ensure his departure this summer."
As Crowded House put it, "It would cause me pain if we were to end it. But I could start again, you can depend on it."
City bosses Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano cannot be too pleased with hearing so much grumbling from a player who receives checks in the neighborhood of £200,000 a week, according to the Telegraph's Mark Ogden.
While moving Toure now might appear reactionary due to recent events, it would actually be prescient and proactive.
Legendary Major League Baseball executive Branch Rickey said it best (via Baseball Almanac): "Trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late."
Despite his petulance, Toure's value this summer will be as high as it is ever apt to be again.
Toure's last Premier League appearance ended with him stooping to receive his second Premier League winner's medal in three seasons.
Thanks to his free-kick and penalty-spot excellence—and in part to semi-regular Sergio Aguero injuries—Toure finished the 2013-14 Premier League season as the league's third-leading scorer.
Toure may not show appreciable signs of slippage in his performance in 2014-15, but he is signed through 2016-17. By the time that contract ends, he will be 34 years old.
It is not meant as a jibe to point out that 34 is how old Steven Gerrard is now. It is meant as a point of bloodless reference.
It's legitimate and he is going to leave City.It's tabloid-driven hokum and he will stay.Submit Votevote to see results
You might fairly ask whom City will get to replace Toure. The answer, at least immediately, is that City probably cannot replace Toure in the strictest sense.
Ball-moving men of Toure's size and deft touch are just not out there to be had in the transfer window. If Toure wants to stay, City would be best off keeping him.
With that said, for a club with Financial Fair Play problems, the booty Toure's sale would bring might cure a few ills.
Besides, Toure does not much seem to want to stay. Keeping him in Manchester as a prisoner of his contract and allowing him to infect the changing room would invite a return to the sniping, imploding last days of the Roberto Mancini era.
The whole sad saga reminds me of the great Earth, Wind & Fire song, "After the Love is Gone": "What used to be right is wrong/Can love that's lost be found?"
In my experience? Don't bet on it.
Dundee shock for Prem champs City
Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City suffered a 2-0 friendly defeat to Dundee at Dens Park in their opening pre-season tie yesterday.
Manuel Pellegrini named new signing Willy Caballero in goal in the friendly clash against the Scottish side, while new midfield signing Fernando started.
But City were already two down before Pellegrini made nine changes at half-time.
The home side took the lead when Gary Harkins was awarded a spot-kick after he was brought down in the penalty box by Dedryck Boyata.
The midfielder, who returned to Dundee for the third time this summer, saw his penalty saved by Argentinian stopper Caballero before hitting home the rebound after 26 minutes.
Ten minutes later Dundee doubled their lead as one of three trialists, Luka Tankulic, sent the ball home via a hefty deflection from the unlucky Boyata.
MCF.net THREAD: viewtopic.php?f=119&t=48740
Belgium captain Vincent Kompany expressed sympathy for Manchester City team-mates Pablo Zabaleta, Martin Demichelis and Sergio Aguero after Argentina's World Cup final defeat. He tweeted: "@pablo_zabaleta @demichelisok & @aguerosergiokun football is hard sometimes. You made everyone proud & had a great tournament. Heads up."
Mangala deal brings quota issue for City
The Blues may need to offload a few of their foreign stars, while they could also take another look at Ross Barkley.
Manchester City will streamline their squad to meet Champions League restrictions with Javi Garcia, Alvaro Negredo and Matija Nastasic all in the firing line.
City will have to chop at least one overseas player from their squad when they complete the signing of Eliaquim Mangala to meet the Premier League limit of 17.
And even if they sell one of the trio, another will face exclusion from the Blues’ Champions League squad, which is limited to 16 overseas players this season.
Garcia and Negredo may be the unlucky stars who are deemed surplus to requirements but Nastasic may also be sold by the club, even though he still qualifies as an under-21 player for the coming season.
That qualification ends next season, and he would start to count towards the overseas quota.
Micah Richards, Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair are already up for grabs as the Blues prune their squad, with Joleon Lescott and Gareth Barry having left at the end of their contracts.
If the Blues can sell a couple of those overseas players, raising transfer funds, they could still launch a bid for Everton’s young England star Ross Barkley.
City have already enquired about Barkley’s availability, but were put off by the huge price quoted by the Toffees.
As it stands, the club believes their incoming transfer activity is finished, although they could yet take another look at Barkley.
The Blues had a £49million cap on their transfer spending imposed by Uefa for this summer, and the captures of Mangala (£32million), Fernando Reges (£12m), Bruno Zuculini (£1.5m) and Bacary Sagna (free) take them close to that limit.
That means any move for Barkley will have to wait for a year unless City can raise more funds through player sales.
Under Premier League rules, clubs are allowed a maximum of 17 overseas players who are aged 21 and over, and this season Uefa has restricted the Blue to a maximum of 16 in the Champions League.
The arrival of 23-year-old French defender Mangala, who had his medical in Manchester at the weekend, could be wrapped up today, and that will take City to 18 foreign stars.
That means at least one of them has to go, but City will look to flog at least two.
If one of the trio stays, he stands to be excluded from the 21-man squad for the Champions League.
Garcia is already attracting interest from Napoli, and Nastasic is wanted by several Italian clubs, but the £24million price tag on Negredo is putting off prospective buyers.
City were adamant a fortnight ago that Negredo would not be sold, amid strong interest from Atletico Madrid, but the player has since intimated that he wants to go.
HOW THE RULES AFFECT CITY
Premier League
•*City need to name a squad of 25 maximum, of which only 17 can be over the age of 21 and not home-grown
•*Home-grown means that, irrespective of nationality or age, the player has been registered to any English or Welsh club for at least three entire seasons or a period of 36 months
•*They can supplement the squad with unlimited players who were under the age of 21 on January 1, 2014
Champions League
•*As part of their punishment for breaching financial fair play rules, City have been restricted to a squad of 21 maximum, of which only 16 can be over the age of 21 and not home-grown.
•*They can supplement the squad with unlimited players who were under 21 on January 1, 2014
City’s current squad
Overseas (18): Caballero, Sagna, Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Mangala (when signed), Kolarov, Fernando Reges, Garcia, Toure, Fernandinho, Navas, Silva, Nasri, Aguero, Dzeko, Jovetic, Negredo
Home-grown (8): Hart, Wright, Richards, Boyata, Clichy, Rodwell, Milner, Sinclair, Guidetti
Under-21: Nastasic, Rekik and whole of elite development squad
World Cup 2014 final: Rihanna enjoyed Germany's triumph more than anyone else
One spectator in the crowd at the Maracana followed every kick of the ball, tweeted their analysis of the final more than Gary Lineker or Stan Collymore, and in the end lifted up their shirt like Fabrizio Ravanelli celebrating one of his best goals. This spectator also happened to be the world's No 1 pop star, Rihanna.
The Bajan singer, 26, seemingly had the time of her life during the World Cup final, celebrating more at the final whistle than she did during any of her seven Grammy Award wins, filling up her Twitter timeline with all of the key developments from the game which Germany won 1-0 against Argentina thanks to Mario Götze's extra-time strike.
With a gap in the punditry market now Alan Hansen has retired, Rihanna gave her views on the "sick" Argentina counter-attack, plus Germany midfielder Thomas Muller, who is "always in the right position".
The "We Found Love", or should that now be "We Found Löw", star concluded by writing that being at the final was "the most epic experience of my entire life".
The "VVIP guest list" for Sunday's World Cup final included film stars Daniel Craig and Ashton Kutcher, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Gabon counterpart Ali Bongo, basketball star LeBron James - and former Leeds midfielder Olivier Dacourt. Guardian
Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, 29, had "The Chosen One" printed on his boots for the World Cup final. DSSC
Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 2002, says his country's footballing problems "run deep". Daily Star
Golden glove winner Manuel Neuer, 28, says he has fallen in love with the "warm-hearted" people of Brazil during Germany's World Cup winning stay in the country. Fifa
Netherlands and Bayern Munich forward Arjen Robben, 30, has turned down an offer from Dutch boss Louis van Gaal to follow him to Manchester United this summer. Daily Telegraph
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is hoping to complete the £3m signing of Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina, 25, from Nice this week. Daily Mirror
Chelsea have opened discussions about bringing Didier Drogba, 36, back to Stamford Bridge as a second choice striker and coach. DSSC
Liverpool striker Iago Aspas, 26, is set to join Sevilla on a season-long loan. Liverpool Echo
Tottenham's summer transfer plans are on hold as midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, 24, and defender Michael Dawson, 30, are reluctant to leave. Daily Mirror
The agent of Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen, 27, admits the Belgian could leave White Hart Lane this summer. Evening Standard
Liverpool have reignited their interest in £18m Sevilla left back Alberto Moreno. Daily Express
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu is convinced Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, who is set to join Barca for £75m, will have his four-month ban for biting reduced, despite Fifa rejecting the 27-year-old's appeal. Independent
Meanwhile Barca's plans to publicly unveil Suarez in a presentation ceremony won't be allowed until his ban is over. Sun
West Ham winger Stewart Downing, 29, believes the imminent £12m signing of Enner Valencia will help take the pressure off Andy Carroll. Daily Star
Germany and Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski, 29, took to Facebook to post a snap of him on the pitch grasping the World up trophy and looking pretty pleased with life.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter seemed to enjoy the game, posting: "What an intense Final from both teams. Congrats #GER: 4th title & 1st European team to win #WorldCup in Americas."
Joey Barton has a theory for Germany's success, tweeting: "So the best prepared team win the World Cup. Only team to build their own training base. Coincidence? I think not..."
Liverpool frontman Daniel Sturridge went on Twitter after Germany's victory to say: "Not even gonna lie I'm jealous it's not me. Fuel for the fire I guess... One day I hope to help England win something. That's the dream..."
A number of YouTube users have been duped by a spoof video that appears to show a North Korean news broadcast announcing that the national football team had made it to the World Cup final. Independent
An Irish football fan is returning from the World Cup with the matchball from the semi-final between Germany and Brazil, after catching a wayward shot from the Brazilian player, Bernard, and showing nifty skills to smuggle the ball out of the stadium. Irish Examiner
MORE BOLLOX SOON
