Tevez going? Who will replace him?

Reports are suggesting that Carlos Tevez will leave the club and sign for Juventus, this in turn leaves us another striker short with the start of the season not that far away.

So, Carlos looks like he is leaving and I am not very happy about it really. I thought that it would of been best all around if Carlos signed an extension to keep him at City for another three seasons, we are still in a transitional period as a club and I think Carlos was needed to help us through it.

If Carlos does head for Juventus then it leaves us looking for two strikers with under two months left until the season starts, in an ideal world you would want any new players in before preseason starts to give them the best possible chance of settling in as quickly as possible.

I suppose the time frame we have is irrelevant now because we do need to bring players in, the question is who?

Firstly and for me most obviously, it has got to be time for John Guidetti to get his chance, he has been in and around the first team, he has been out for his loan experience and coming off the back of an injury it is time for him to have a fresh start at City and show us if he can make the grade or not.

As well as John I do think we need to buy another striker in order to make up a strike force consisting of four front men. I know a lot of City fans who think three would be enough but its to close for me, if one gets injured that's it, all of a sudden we are badly lacking.

So who would you go for? Its tough but there is a couple of players out there who are supposedly available, an obvious solution straight away would be to see if its not too late to bring in Higuain, he has a great goal scoring record and has handled the pressures of Real Madrid well. The rumours regarding his proposed move to Arsenal are gathering pace but I think City would be able to turn his head.

Another worth while, possibly simple option could be Mario Gomez, his agent has already said this summer that Gomez is likely to leave Bayern Munich due to falling down the pecking order. I would put an enquiry in about Gomez while exploring our options, he is of good pedigree and a proven goal scorer, simple as that really.

Another option although I personally have never quite been convinced by him, would be Robert Lewandowski. I imagine this would be a hard deal to pull of though with Dortmund taking a tough stance regarding his future.

For my last suggestion and potentially controversial one, Wayne Rooney. I know I know, I do not have to be told but Rooney is still class, if its true that he wants to leave United then I would have a pop at getting him. I know a lot of City fans who will be wondering what I am thinking suggesting that, but I am just not a City fan who dwells on what United are doing until we play them.

Just a couple of suggestions from me but who would you like to see come in up front?

Transfers, who do the fans want?

Ferran Soriano has recently stated that City were at the closing phase with several players and although he also said that it can still take time for the deals to go through, I couldn't help but get a bit excited.

So, I ended up sitting and thinking for a while about what the team needs to improve and to be honest after the season the players have just had, you could say that what is needed is more effort, saying that there is a few positions that I do believe need strengthening.

The midfield was clearly the main area of concern last season and at times was just non existent, although this was sometimes down to just pure laziness, it was also because of tactics. Sometimes certain players in the midfield didn't look comfortable in their positions and to be honest I don't think some of them knew where they were supposed to be playing at times, it was as a whole shambolic at times.

I don't have any major issues with the other areas in the team, although obviously we need to get that fourth striker in and depending on certain players staying or going we may need to replace people, but I am not going to speculate too much on positions already filled because basically there's no point until someone leaves.

DEFENCE

So, I will start at the back with goalkeeper. Costel may be leaving and in such an event it is hard to say who we can get in to replace him, if Costel leaves a good option as back up keeper could be Cristian Alvarez, the Argentine is a competent keeper who has come on a lot in the last couple of seasons at Espanyol and from what I know he is out of contract this summer.

Back four - the starting back four of Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic and Clichy does not need to be changed in my opinion. I think all we are looking for in defence are reinforcements, Kolo as far as I'm concerned has wrongly been allowed to leave and now he needs replacing. Obviously Micah Richards can come in at centre half if needed, but I think we will look to bring a centre half in.

There is quite a few good young centre halves around at the moment but it would mean spending good money on someone to come in and be a fringe player. For the sake of value and sporting reasons I would go and have a look at signing Argentine International Marcos Rojo from Sporting Lisbon, he is a young improving player that can play centre half and left back, he may also be available cheap considering Sporting's financial problems.

MIDFIELD

By far the area of the team that needs improving the most, we need more variation so finally getting linked with wingers is promising, good teams with good width works, you just need to look down the road to see that.

Jesus Navas and 'Isco' seem to be the names in the frame for these positions. Navas I have admired for years, he is a quality winger and should of been playing for a big club years ago, hopefully he can overcome his homesickness and make the move.

 Isco, I have only seen this lad a few times and sometimes he has looked decent and sometimes he hasn't, but like I said not really seen enough of him to give him a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Other players I would be looking at in these positions would be Iker Muniain, Pedro and Marco Reus. Muniain is young but has been very impressive for Athletico Bilbao, I think he is good enough to make the move to City and he can only get better.

Pedro would be a slight long shot, I don't think Barcelona would particularly want to sell him, but having spent big on Neymar, I think a cheeky enquiry would be worth while for such a talented player.

Marco Reus, well this guy is absolute class, more an attacking midfielder than a winger I know, but he can play anywhere along the front line and would be a brilliant acquisition. He works hard, he is skilful, he can score goals and he is young, he would be top of my list this summer.

STRIKERS

We only have Aguero whose future at the Club seems clear after signing his new deal, as for Dzeko and Tevez who knows what's going to happen.

What I would like to see happen is for Tevez to sign a new deal and for Dzeko to stay put. Tevez is quality it is as simple as that concerning him, he seems more settled now, so get him sat down and on a new deal.

As for Dzeko, he frustrates me so much, he has a lot more to offer than he does at times. He can be very lazy and too casual but when he looks interested and works hard he looks the business, I wouldn't be gutted to see him leave but considering he does still score goals and for the sake of not unsettling the team even more, I would keep him.

So if all that were to go to plan then we still need a fourth striker, but who? Cavani is the main name being talked about at the moment and you certainly can't argue with his stats. Problem for me is that he has declared that it is his dream to play in Spain, so I would tend to leave him where he is rather than spending a lot of money on someone who doesn't really want to be at our club.

There isn't going to be a vast amount of quality strikers available this summer but there is a couple of decent players that I think should be considered. My preference would be Stephan El Shaarawy from AC Milan, El Shaarawy has made the transition from midfield to a forward and is now on his way to being classed as a striker. He has scored 19 goals this season and at 20 years of age I think he would be a great investment for the present and future.

Alternatively, Gonzalo Higuain has just announced that he is leaving Real Madrid and if a deal with Juventus isn't already signed, I would think about making an enquiry. I know a lot of people who don't rate Higuain that highly but I have always thought he was a good striker and more importantly he scores goals.

We may however already have a striker at the club that is good enough, especially just to fill the fourth striker spot. John Guidetti, it is about time John got a chance in a City shirt, he is of an age where it needs to be decided if he is good enough or not and I personally would like to see him get a chance at the club.

So that's just my opinion on some of the players that I think would be good additions to our squad, I am aware, that there are many more options than I have listed and maybe better options as well, but that's what my blog is about, the opinion of the fans. So, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

New Nike kit unveiled in New York, what do you think? *Picture*

City are currently in New York on the post season tour where they have just unveiled next seasons kit.

They made us wait until very late this evening to officially unveil it due to the time difference in New York and having done so it ends up the shirt had already been seen as it had been leaked, nothing special in my opinion, what do you think?

Roberto has gone, farewell boss!

Just as I finished writing about my discontent at the way Roberto had been turned on, his sacking was announced.

I feel gutted, I wanted him to stay at City and continue to build. I am lost for words because although I knew it was coming, I still thought there was a chance he could stay.

We all know what he has achieved, I don't need to go into it again, as I said in my previous article, Roberto is a hero of mine and always will be.

FORZA MANCINI!

Some fans turning on Mancini, why?

Remember this?

As is well publicised, Roberto may be for the sack and as if that was not enough, a lot of City fans all of a sudden seem to want him out of the door as well.

I am not for one minute ignoring the tactical errors and just down right poor decisions that Roberto has made at times during his tenure, but his success has surely outweighed his failures.

I didn't really want to go into a debate on Roberto Mancini and his future until it was confirmed, however I have been left slightly infuriated by some of the articles popping up on other City fan sites.

I just cannot understand the lack of loyalty, as I said Roberto is not perfect but he has still brought us and our club the most success we have had for some time.

A lot of City fans seem to have forgot it has only been a few years since we came into the vast riches that are available at the club, Roberto for me has more than delivered in that time. A lot of City fans need to be brought back down to earth, just remember where we have come from.

Roberto managed us to an FA CUP and a LEAGUE TITLE, it was his team that went to Old Trafford and beat not just our rivals, but a great team 1-6. Roberto mastered 19 home wins in a row, he is the one that has seen us into the champions league 3 years running and you know what I will mention the latest final we got into because although we lost, a few years ago we wouldn't of dreamt of being in the FA Cup final let alone 2 in the space of 2 years.

Mancini in my opinion should keep his job at City for at least another season, although he has made his mistakes this season, the players have not helped him. Just look at the final of the cup, they did not look like men who were busting a gut to win a trophy, it is time the players took more responsibility!

We need continuity and although Mancini is more likely to leave than he is to stay, I do not believe it is the right decision. One more season with set goals and targets I could deal with, that would be fair on him and our club.

Just to finish, to me Roberto Mancini will always be a hero, he was the man (along with the backing of the owner of course) that made it possible for me to see City lift two major trophies alongside my Dad, something not that long ago I thought I would never get to do.

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No.2 America and Claudio Reyna

At number two in my top ten viewers is America and the player I have chosen for them is Claudio Reyna.

As a youth Reyna was a much coveted player and when it came time for him to go to college he was not short of options. In 1991 Reyna chose to go to the University of Virginia after being offered a full scholarship, in his time playing for the University football team Reyna had received personal awards as well as national recognition from some of Americas leading magazines as being the best up and coming player in the country.

After his impressive displays at College level Reyna earned a call up for the 1994 World Cup, with the competition being held in his home Country. The competition put Reyna even more in the spotlight and resulted in him being signed by Bayer Leverkusen shortly after the competition.

Reyna struggled to settle in Leverkusen and was sent out on loan to Wolfsburg in 1997, he started to find his feet in German football while at Wolfsburg and went on to be the first American to Captain a European Club whilst playing for them.

In 1999 whilst still on loan at Wolfsburg Reyna caught the attention of Glasgow Rangers, he subsequently signed for the Scottish club in April of the same year. Despite often being played out of position Reyna continued to impress while playing in Scotland and only spent a couple of seasons there before being whisked away by Sunderland.

Sunderland paid almost three million pound for Reyna in 2001 and the early signs made it seem money well spent, unfortunately in 2002 Claudio injured the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and missed the rest of 2002 - 2003 season. That proved to the end of his Sunderland career.

At the end of the 2002 - 2003 season Reyna signed for City, although the time he spent at City was also hampered by injury, Reyna was a player loved by the fans. When he did play his simplistic approach was lovely to watch, dare I say it but sometimes it was hard to believe that an American could look so classy. In Jan 2007 Reyna's City career came to an end but not because of his injury battle, the club announced that Reyna had requested to leave due to personal reasons.

On the 24Th of January 2007 Reyna returned home and signed for New York Red Bulls, his time at the club did not last long due to his continuous injury problems and he retired from the game on the 16Th of July 2008. After retiring from playing Reyna became the United States soccer federations youth technical director.

Reyna is a player I certainly think could have been at least near World class had he been allowed to fulfill his potential, although regardless of that he will always be very highly thought of by every one in football and the City fans in particular.