Manchester City Attempts to Keep Spending Money

Fat-bottomed girls Money makes the world go-round, and Manchester City still have loads of it. Owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi) is worth approximately $1 trillion (yes, that's a "T") and he would like to spend as much of it as possible on his toy. Latest reports have Man City targeting 2 world-class players for a move to the Eastlands in the summer.



Arjen Robben, who moved to Real Madrid from Chelsea just 2 years ago for a £24m fee, has been on the outs at the Bernabeu this season and the club is looking to unload the winger in preparation for a run at Ronaldo (non-fatty edition). In 30 matches in La Liga and the Champions League, Robben has 8 goals and 6 assists - not horrible, considering that he has been injury-prone, but nowhere near a Ronaldo-like output. Real Madrid are willing to part with him for an £18 fee and may even package him with Rafael van der Vaart (Sylvie to the Eastlands!) to make more room for spending in the transfer season.


Man City also coveted Robben's teammate, defender Fabio Cannavaro, who is out of contract in July and has not yet been offered an extension. However, the Italy captain has turned down the advances of the club (as well as those from Bayern) and is awaiting the results of the Real Madrid presidential elections before he makes his decision. Cannavaro, who will be 36 next year, has stated that he wants to focus on preparations for the World Cup (undoubtedly his last) and would prefer not to have to start over with an entirely new club. Despite this, he has also noted that a move to Juventus or Napoli is a possibility, as this would move him closer to the training grounds of the Italian national team.


But is all this just more transfer bullshit? Manchester City have already indicated that Michael Ball and Danny Mills will not be offered new contracts when their current ones expire this summer but there has been no other word on the release or transfer of players. Perhaps they would make the transfer of Jo permanent, as well as sell off either Joe Hart or Kasper Schmeichel (neither of whom are replacing Shay Given any time soon). But Steven Ireland will certainly be rewarded with a better contract, and Man City have indicated that they also intend to pursue John Terry (although they were unsuccesful last year), either Roque Santa Cruz or Nacho Pete, and perhaps Franck Ribery.


John Terry's lack of interest last year would seem to demonstrate that it is perhaps not a financial problem, but an image problem that is the club's biggest hurdle. Currently sitting 9th in the table, Manchester City is 20 points adrift of a Champions League spot and it is difficult to attract talent when all you offer is the possbility (not even a guarantee) of a spot in the Europa Cup. Can Abu Dhabi United give hope to the blue half of Manchester, or are they just throwing good money after bad?


As an aside to these rumours, I should note that as a Frenchmen I loathe all of the members of the Italian national team. Except for Cannavaro - as a former defender myself, I simply love the way he plays the game and I have nothing but the utmost respect him for him as a player. It's really confusing, this forbidden love.