Well unsurprisingly, the news of Eliaquim Mangala’s capture is pretty dominant. So what does the footballing world make of the move?
Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening News is particularly impressed with the signing, deeming the Frenchman “the final piece in the summer jigsaw.”
He writes: “City have been relatively low profile in the transfer market this summer. But that does not mean the Blues have not quietly been strengthening and hardening a squad that was good enough to pip the rest to the Premier League title last season.
“The completion of the signing of France defender Eliaquim Mangala has slotted the final piece in their summer jigsaw, and ensured that Manuel Pellegrini will have possibly the strongest squad in City’s history this season.
“Other clubs have hogged the summer headlines, with Chelsea snapping up Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, Arsenal bagging Alexis Sanchez and United also reinforcing.
“That might just shut up whingeing fans who bemoan the fact that City have ‘bought the title’, as all of them have spent big and dwarfed the Blues’ summer spending.”
If only...
Elsewhere, Richard Tanner of the Daily Express believes the Frenchman’s arrival could signal exits for two defenders.
He scribes: “The huge fee makes him [Mangala] the second most expensive defender in world football after David Luiz and City’s second most expensive player after Sergio Aguero, but the Premier League champions will now look to recoup up to half of the fee by selling Matija Nastasic and Micah Richards, who are both surplus to requirements.
“Juventus are keen to take £10m-rated Nastasic back to Italy while Newcastle head a queue of Premier League clubs who have expressed an interest in former England international Richards, whose value has dropped to around £5m as he enters the last season on his contract.
“City boss Manuel Pellegrini made it clear that Richards is not in his plans when, with both Pablo Zabaleta and new boy Bacary Sagna missing on Sunday, he still didn’t pick him for the Community Shield clash with Arsenal.
“Instead, he moved Gael Clichy from left-back to the right side and preferred to play inexperienced Dedryck Boyata alongside Nastasic in the centre of the defence.
“But the defeat to the Gunners exposed City’s need for top-quality cover for Vincent Kompany and Martin Demichelis - who both missed the game because they have only had a week’s training following their post-World Cup breaks - and why they have doggedly refused to give up on Mangala despite a tortuous transfer trail.”
In other news, there’s fighting talk from Willy Caballero and Stevan Jovetic, with the former insisting he will not be content with a spot on the bench, while the latter is expecting another closely-fought title race.
Quoted on BTSport’s website, Caballero asserted: “My ambition is to fight for the position and to be there when the manager needs me.
“I want to be number one. Both of us will train for that chance, but I came to fight for the number one spot.”
Meanwhile, in the Mirror, Jovetic declared: “This year is going to be more difficult than last year.
“United will be much better, Arsenal are stronger and Chelsea, with the three or four players they have bought, will be better.
“Liverpool are also good, they are strong now and, if they buy some strikers, they will also be in the title race.
“I expect a really tough season, but we need to believe in ourselves and hopefully we are going to win the league again.”
And finally, there’s another snippet of transfer speculation for you to ponder over as talkSPORT claim John Guidetti is wanted by Feyenoord.
An article on the radio station’s website reads: “The Sweden international impressed during a loan spell with the Eredivisie side two years ago and reports in Holland claim the 22-year old tops Fred Rutten’s wishlist following the departure of star striker Graziano Pelle - who left for Southampton last month.
“It has been reported that the forward was the topic of conversation in a meeting between Feyenoord’s technical director Martin van Geel and the Swede’s representatives.
“Negotiations for the 22-year-old may drag on, however, with City refusing to lower their £5m valuation.”
That’s all for today. Come back to mcfc.co.uk again tomorrow for another round-up of City-related media stories. In the meantime, have you checked out our exclusive snaps of Mangala’s first day at the Club?
