Maybe I became a little over excited when we got into that coveted 4th spot last season. It was after all what the club, players and more importantly if you’re reading this, the fans had been craving and praying for since the Champions League was formed.
It was the start of a new beginning for the club. Surely the stepping stone onto bigger and better things? Financially we would now be able to really compete with Europe’s elite especially when you consider we’ve never been that far away from them in that sense anyway. The ability to attract the seriously big names, the Klinsmann type signings that would not only perform well but would stay for more than one season too.
I’m not pretending I thought we’d be scouting Lionel Messi and the worlds best but I had hopes of the odd world class player and the addition of some of Europe’s best youngsters.
So, with one month until the season kicks off and 7 weeks until the transfer window shuts I’ve got to admit I’m a little disappointed the players we seem to have been seriously linked with and according to the various “In the knows” have been in discussions with are Joe Cole, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards.
Now, don’t get me wrong. They’re all fine players in their own right, except Bellamy but I’ll get onto that. I wouldn’t think many would argue that Cole is the better of the 3 but would people be quite as keen on his signing if he wasn’t on a free? I know that will mean he’ll get a decent signing on fee and his salary will undoubtedly be one of if not the highest at the club so he’s not exactly free but we’re not having to give £15m to another club. My only fear with Cole is he’s spent a large amount of the last 2 seasons injured at various points and when he has played he hasn’t set the world on fire. There’s obviously some serious talent there and he could be just what we need to unlock defences when teams come to the Lane with 10 men behind the ball but it’s still a risk.
Micah Richards is another risk. Rumours are the fee would be around the £8-10m mark for a defender. Again, he’s got immense potential but seems to have ruined it by having an excessive social life. Is London the best place for someone like that? If he can buckle down I think he’d be an excellent signing but hardly front page news.
Then there’s Mr Bellamy. A player who hasn’t managed to stay at a club longer than we’ve been able to keep the same manager, leaving disruption and broken bones in his wake. Redknapp clearly likes him and he does have the odd good game. He started last season on fire but finished it by letting that flying winger we all know as Younes Kaboul run over him to supply the cross that ultimately ended City’s top 4 dreams. Do we really need another Jermaine Jenas? Actually that’s harsh on JJ, his form may go up and down more than a girls top during Mardi Gras, but he’s never really caused the club any problems or moaned about his position on the bench. Bellamy would almost certainly do all those things.
When the season finished we were linked with players like Dzeko and Suarez. We’re still being linked with various players of similar calibre in the press but they don’t appear to be as serious as the other three.
With the exception of Joe Cole I think Bellamy and Richards are the sort of players we would be linked with and could buy without the champions league. Does Harry really believe the squad we’ve currently got is good enough without for example a striker that can almost guarantee 20+ league goals and 30+ overall goals?
As long as we don’t fall apart during the qualifying stage we’ll be playing in an extra competition this season and the teams in the league around us will be stronger. City are spending as big as they were before and spending well by the looks of things. Liverpool probably won’t be as bad as they were last season, and if someone like Everton can keep injury free they’ll be up their fighting too. So if we want to be in the Champions League and therefore a top 4 finish again surely we need to improve again.
Are Joe Cole, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards good enough to improve us the amount we need?
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