SIGNS SHOW CITY GAINS
I HAVE heard criticism of Manchester City’s buying so far this summer, with plenty of people saying they’ve spent hundreds of millions without signing any names at all.
If they get Benjamin Mendy next, then it will be the best part of £200million, with the most recognisable recruit a fullback in Kyle Walker.
But, even though they may not be household names, the way football is now, clubs don’t just go and sign a player on a whim, they do their homework and try to remove all the variables.
The fact is, though, you cannot ever know for sure that any player will be a guaranteed hit, no matter what their track record.
Moussa Sissoko at Spurs is an example of that, where he had a Premier League and international pedigree, but still failed.
It’s all a gamble and City know they can gamble more than anybody else. If they splash the cash and it fails – and they seem to have done that with about 50 centrebacks in the past few years – then they can just go out and buy another.
I honestly think they will go through £300m this summer and maybe half of the signings will be completely successful.
But that is fair enough when you are buying six players at the top level. If they can improve their team in three key positions, they will be closer to the top.