A summer of change

This summer has seen a monumental amount of change at City, as everyone already knows we have been very active recruiting players, however what some may not know is about the improvement being made at the club as a whole.

Our new owners have been showing that they are here for the long term and not just here to use us as a toy. They have been heavily investing in all areas of the club; they have so far built a new multi-million pound office block so that they can free up space in the stadium to make room for improvements there, our training ground has had a total overhaul and now only houses the best of the best for our players and they have transformed the club shop and the ticket office. Who ever said they are only here for a bit of fun?

Of course as we all know that is not the most exciting part of the change at City this summer, we have signed some top quality International footballers.

Gareth Barry - Midfield

Gareth Barry is a great signing and possibly the best signing Hughes has made this summer. Everyone knows his quality from his time with Aston Villa and from when he plays for England, but already in pre-season City fans have seen first hand how good he is. If we are to finish high up the league I see this man having a lot to do with it.

Roque Santa Cruz - Striker

In Santa Cruz we have a striker who has had one good season in England and one injury-hit one. I’m not sure we can know where we are at with him as far as what impact he can have on our season. If we get the Santa Cruz that performs as well as he did in his first season with Blackburn, then we have a powerful striker who can score goals and bully defences. Saying that, the jury is still out on him for the time being.

Stuart Taylor - Goalkeeper

Taylor has been brought in as nothing more than a back up keeper to Shay Given, he is a decent keeper to have in your squad but I don’t expect to see him get a lot of playing time with Given standing in his way.

Carlos Tevez - Striker

It is hard to ignore that Tevez has come from Manchester United and obviously a lot of City fans have enjoyed that fact about his move to City. I, however, think that him crossing over to us from United is the least important thing about this transfer, to sign a player of his quality should be our main concern. The feisty Argentine International will add steel and hard work to our front line and I am hoping to see him play a huge role in what will hopefully be a successful season for us.

Emmanuel Adebayor - Striker

In Adebayor I think we have signed one of the best strikers in the Premier League, he has proved he can score goals at this level and I would back him to continue down that path for City. Arsenal fans do not hold him in high regard, they say he is lazy and needs ten chances to score one. To be honest he can have one hundred chances to score one goal and be as lazy as he wants if he scores as many goals for us as he did for Arsenal, plus Hughes isn’t stupid, Tevez is there to do the hard work.

Kolo Touré - Defender

In Touré we have signed a much needed high-class defender, I am really not quite sure why Arsenal have let one of their best defenders, if not their best defender, leave. The qualities that Touré possesses have been proven over many seasons playing in the Premier League; he is quick, strong, defends brilliantly and is a leader. I think Arsenal could regret selling him and I am sure that we will not regret buying him.

Along with these signings we have had to see players leave, some of which will be missed:

Elano - Midfield

I was sorry to see Elano go, I always had a hope that he would reproduce his best form and force his way back into our team. I think it was always clear Hughes wasn’t an Elano fan and it is a shame really, but life goes on and all we can do is wish Elano good luck.

Darius Vassell - Striker

Well I expect a bit of stick for singling out Darius as a player who may be missed, but I also know that a lot of City fans feel the same way about him as I do. Darius was a player who would always give 110% for City and never moan when he was being played out of position constantly. He is someone I would feel sorry for if our plan to be the best team in world football comes off, he is the kind of professional that deserves to succeed. He has been welcomed with hero status at his new club in Turkey and I for one hope he succeeds there.

Other first team players that have left City include:

Danny Mills, Michael Ball, Glauber Berti, Ched Evans, Gelson Fernandes, Dietmar Hamann, and Daniel Sturridge.

Loaned out:

Valeri Bojinov, Joe Hart, Jô, Felipe Caicedo, and Shaleum Logan.

When you look at the big picture, I think on a whole the players that have come in and the players that have left have been the right decision for our club. We are all obviously looking forward to a big season and I say why not, at the same time though I don’t think we should get ahead of ourselves and keep realistic. Bring on the new season!

Just to let my readers know, this article was first published at http://www.footballnation.info/

I have had the pleasure of being asked to write articles for the City section on there, do not worry though it will not affect my blog and I will be working as hard as ever on here.

Footballnation is a new up and coming football site, it is already a great site for football fans and I would suggest having a look. It is having a lot of hard work put into it and the more it evolves, the better it will become.

To finish off I have to once again thank my readers, without the great calibre of people that come to read my blog, I never would have been asked to write for footballnation. Without my readers there would have been no blog, my sincere thanks goes out to you all.