Speculation in the press has linked Emmanuel Adebayor, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Roque Santa Cruz with moves away from the club, but the Manager says he does not want to reduce the options open to him.
Key to this thinking is Mario Balotelli’s knee injury, which Mancini said on Thursday would keep him out of action for another two to three weeks.
Wayne Bridge joined West Ham for the rest of the season on Wednesday night, and Mancini wished the England left-back well, saying:
“Wayne’s a good guy, and a good player but he wanted to play, and it was difficult for him to play every game here. He has a good opportunity with West Ham, and I hope he plays well.
“For Roque and Shaun, it’s the same situation. They are all good players, but every player wants to play and for me as a manager it is difficult.
I understand their situation, if they have the chance to go to another club and play a lot more, that is better for them.
“Shaun has two or three options, but we want to wait because if we lose three or four players we might not have enough later in the season.
“We must wait because Manu is a different situation. I think a lot of teams want Manu, but he is a different type of player and at the moment I think it is better if we wait to see about Mario’s injury. There is still plenty of time this month.”
