Stays top of Mancini’s Christmas wishlist
Suarez, particularly as City – who played Aston Villa overnight – already have a wealth of attacking options to choose from.
Mancini, though, believes Suarez could reinvigorate a City side who have struggled at times this season despite remaining unbeaten in the Premier League after 11 games. He also regards the Uruguayan as a more attainable target than Radamel Falcao, the prolific Atletico Madrid forward in whom Chelsea are also interested.
Any pursuit of Suarez would require the departure of at least one of City’s quartet of costly forwards, with Mancini having spent in excess of £130 million ($255m) on Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Mario Balotelli in recent seasons and the need to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations an increasing concern.
Balotelli’s position at City is under threat because of his failure to score a single league goal so far this season and also as a result of indiscretions that have brought him into conflict with Mancini.
The Italy striker was left out of the City squad for the 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend with reports emerging afterwards claiming that he had been at a Cheshire nightspot only 12 hours before kickoff.
Mino Raiola, Balotelli’s agent, has insisted that Balotelli will see out the remainder of his contract despite the growing feeling at City that the 22-year-old is no longer worth the continuing distractions that his presence provokes.
Persuading City to back his judgment over Suarez is a significant hurdle in itself for Mancini but even that is unlikely to prove as difficult as convincing Liverpool to part company with the 25-year-old who signed a lucrative long-term contract only in August. City failed in a bid to sign Daniel Agger during the summer because of Liverpool’s insistence that they would sell the defender only for a fee in the region of £27m ($53m). Liverpool confirmed that they had rejected bids from City for the Denmark player.
Liverpool’s determination to retain the services of Suarez and build a team around him was reflected when they trebled his weekly salary to £120,000. Suarez committed himself to Liverpool despite strong interest from Juventus, and, since extending his contract, his performance levels have reached new heights as reflected by the 11 goals he has scored this season.
Suarez is known to be happy at Liverpool.
But there is also an acceptance at Liverpool that they will have to prove themselves capable of matching Suarez’s ambitions if they are to guarantee his loyalty in the future. Mancini would hope that the lure of Champions League football and competing for honours would bring forward the test of his devotion to Liverpool’s cause.