South East Citizen wrote:
Unusually interesting first post.
Well Mancini fancies De Rossi but it depends whether he signs a new contract. If not he could be available for as little as £5m, but we'd have to pay him a ridiculous amount in wages.
Diarra at Madrid is always being linked with clubs, but I don't know that we need him. Give Nige a run of games and use Hargreaves and Milner there while Barry's suspended. Zabs has often done a good job there too...
Roberto Mancini admits City bid for Daniele De Rossi depends on sales
• Manager keen on January deal for Roma midfielder
• But Manchester City must sell 'three or four' players first
reddit this
Press Association
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 January 2012 10.25 GMT
Article history
Roma's Daniele De Rossi is a target for Manchester City, but Roberto Mancini says he must sell players before they can buy. Photograph: Paolo Bruno/Getty Images
The Manchester City manager, Roberto Mancini, may consider making new signings in this month's transfer window, but only if there are significant departures first.
City are still seeking to offload their absent striker Carlos Tevez, while the defenders Nedum Onuoha and Wayne Bridge, both surplus to requirements, are also available.
Mancini said: "We could maybe bring someone in, but we need to sell three or four players. With Carlos we could close [a deal] in the next three or four days, and also possibly Wayne. Then maybe we can do something. With Carlos there are two or three teams in Italy, a team in France, and another team involved – I hope for him he can start to play football."
City have been linked with Roma's Daniele De Rossi to help cope with the loss of Yaya Touré, who is heading for the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast, but Mancini admitted it could be tough to convince him to leave Italy.
He said: "De Rossi is a top player, like Yaya, but he plays for Roma, a top team, and he was born there. I don't know if he will leave."
Mancini has also spoken of his concerns over City's mental strength, despite their three-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
"We have done well this season, but we could do more," he told the Daily Mail. "Even the best teams, there are times during the year when you cannot win, and you don't know why. Maybe you are unlucky, you make chances and you cannot score. Then there are other games, like at Chelsea, like at Sunderland, where if you are a top team you cannot win, but you must not lose.
"We need to understand this. A clever team would understand it. 'OK,' they would think, 'the win will not happen, but, just as important, we must concede nothing'.
"One month ago, all the journalists were saying we could go the season unbeaten, like Arsenal. But I knew then that we would not. We are not Arsenal, we are not strong up here like that team."