So Carlos Tévez has ended up at Manchester City. His move from Old Trafford to Eastlands should come as no surprise, as the Citizens’ desire to sign Tévez on massive wages was hard for the player to ignore. City’s recruitment drive is dominating the summer’s transfer activity and it shows no sign of slowing down. Can City really upset the football odds and challenge for major honours this season?
Tévez joins Gareth Barry and Roque Santa Cruz as major summer signings at Eastlands, a batch of purchases to go alongside those financed last season by the Abu Dhabi United Group of Robinho, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge, Shay Given, Nigel de Jong and Craig Bellamy. Not a bad list of new talent by anyone’s standards.
More optimistic bids for Kaká and Samuel Eto’o have been dismissed by the targets themselves, but the fact John Terry remains a viable signing suggests City are capable of attracting the big names, as they did with Robinho and Tévez. Emmanuel Adebayor has attracted interest from the top leagues but looks like ending up in Manchester (pending a medical and work permit submission).
Chelsea were the last team to ‘buy the league’, but their success under José Mourinho was built upon a strong base. The Blues were a regular presence in the top six in the years before Roman Abramovich arrived.
Similarly, Blackburn Rovers, often remembered as one-hit wonders thanks to Jack Walker’s millions in 1994/95, were already title challengers, finishing fourth and second in the seasons before they edged out United for the title.
City flirted with relegation more than European qualification last term and although they had some decent talent in place before the money rolled in, they have much more work to do to become title challengers than Blackburn or Chelsea did. The top clubs are becoming increasingly strong and hard to overhaul.
All this suggests this season will be a transition campaign for the Citizens and there is a real chance of mid-season instability – if the new signings do not gel immediately and another slow start is suffered, the owners’ patience with Mark Hughes might run out.
However, City are virtually guaranteed to be a top half club fighting for a top six finish. This has an impact on Spurs, as our aim should be to get back in the European football places. Everton and Aston Villa are sure to be competitive again but it is City who are most likely to block our path to fifth place and possibly higher.
Tévez joins Gareth Barry and Roque Santa Cruz as major summer signings at Eastlands, a batch of purchases to go alongside those financed last season by the Abu Dhabi United Group of Robinho, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge, Shay Given, Nigel de Jong and Craig Bellamy. Not a bad list of new talent by anyone’s standards.
More optimistic bids for Kaká and Samuel Eto’o have been dismissed by the targets themselves, but the fact John Terry remains a viable signing suggests City are capable of attracting the big names, as they did with Robinho and Tévez. Emmanuel Adebayor has attracted interest from the top leagues but looks like ending up in Manchester (pending a medical and work permit submission).
Chelsea were the last team to ‘buy the league’, but their success under José Mourinho was built upon a strong base. The Blues were a regular presence in the top six in the years before Roman Abramovich arrived.
Similarly, Blackburn Rovers, often remembered as one-hit wonders thanks to Jack Walker’s millions in 1994/95, were already title challengers, finishing fourth and second in the seasons before they edged out United for the title.
City flirted with relegation more than European qualification last term and although they had some decent talent in place before the money rolled in, they have much more work to do to become title challengers than Blackburn or Chelsea did. The top clubs are becoming increasingly strong and hard to overhaul.
All this suggests this season will be a transition campaign for the Citizens and there is a real chance of mid-season instability – if the new signings do not gel immediately and another slow start is suffered, the owners’ patience with Mark Hughes might run out.
However, City are virtually guaranteed to be a top half club fighting for a top six finish. This has an impact on Spurs, as our aim should be to get back in the European football places. Everton and Aston Villa are sure to be competitive again but it is City who are most likely to block our path to fifth place and possibly higher.
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