Very happy at the way we're dealing with the market. Quick and necessary additions as soon as possible. It also gives us the rest of the window to get rid of deadweights.

Previously we used to leave things for too long. Do I dare hope that for once we might approach this window with some sort of strategy.

Jeremy Menez on a free and a fee of 3 million with bonuses is for me a good deal. He is almost a like for like replacement for Robinho.

Would I have wished we got someone more consistent. Yes, but we don't have the money for it. And then we'll be waiting till the end to make some money from player sales and leaving the new coach with about 2 weeks before season start to coach the team.

Don't know, I just don't see him being an important part of the side, and I prefer it if he was out there in Serie A gaining experience rather than warming the bench

You know that Pippo is going to put a lot of emphasis on youngsters, right?

I'll have to see it to believe it tbh

Yes that perception is there because he's been coaching the youths, but I'm not sure that when push comes to shove that he won't revert to using a Muntari type because he's deemed as the "safe" option over a Cristante.

Nah, Pippo has a plan in mind, a project. He'll stick to it.

We'll see, whether the coach has a plan in mind or not, it really doesn't depend much on him tbh

I'm excited to see Mastour next season as well, but he'll be turning 16 so I'm a bit wary of him being played in the league

I don't think so. Who's the last Spanish striker to make an impact in Serie A? I think there's a certain level of incompatibility, and since I do not rate Negredo as high, I don't think he'd do especially good with us.

I rate Mandzukic much higher, because he got tested on many levels and always delivered: with inferior teams like Wolfsburg or even Dinamo, or with superior teams like Bayern. He had a good Euro showing as well.

The more I read about Mandzukic the more I am starting to like him. Negredo, OTOH, I don't know. I follow EPL, and I am far from convinced. Yes, he scored 9 goals and 5 assist last year, but those numbers are not that remarkable relative to other City players (Dzeko, Aguero, Yaya, Nasri and Silva were far more productive and reliable IMHO). And moving to Serie A (where a lot of teams emphasize defense) I would not expect him to do any better.

Agree on all this. For all the justified criticism B&G have taken in recent years this window has started well. Alex signed, Menez following, and a bunch of links, many of which are promising.

Furthermore looks like we'll be able to offload Matri to Palermo for 9M Euros, assuming they get rid of Lafferty and Hernandez.

Why not? He barely played last season. 11 starts, all the rest was as sub. So I'd argue 9 goals and 5 assists for someone who barely featured is excellent.

The others you quoted played far more. You're also comparing 3 AM's with him which is apples and oranges. Aguero is world class and better than Negredo, no one would argue that, and Dzeko at his best is also a great player.

Neither of those players being as good as they are makes Negredo less good.

Still, I'd be happy with he or Mandzukic. Or both ha!

No, you rate Mandzukic higher because he's Croatian. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

I get where you're coming from about Negredo, but to answer your question: Llorente. See? Nationality plays no role here. If Negredo was Portuguese, would you think differently? No.

Negredo: 1722 minutes, 9 goals, 5 assists (one goal every 191 minutes)
Dzeco: 1986 minutes, 16 goals, 7 assists (one goal every 124 minutes)
Aguero: 1528 minutes, 17 goals, 11 assists (one goal every 90 minutes)

So, Aguero is miles ahead of both, but he was injured for a good part of the year. Dzeco played a little more than Negredo but was a lot more productive, which explains why Negredo was benched towards the end of the season (when Aguero was out), even though he was heavily favored by Pellegrini early on. Man City scored 102 goals throughout the year, so Negredo's 9 is not that impressive. Now take that in the context of Serie A. Even though (in general) EPL has better quality, I think Italian teams are harder to break down defensively, particularly when they park the bus (which they will do often enough). Bottom line, if Negredo did marginally well in EPL, I don't see him being a success in Italy. Add to that the fact that Spaniards tend to flop in Serie A (particularly with Milan). Net-net, I would be happier if we found someone else.


We will struggle finding the money to get one of the two, and I am already hearing noises that Balo is not enough and that we may also have to sell DS (which would be a bad idea IMHO).

Berlu: Balo will stay if he learns to play as a center-forward

This is from his visit to Casa Milan. Highlights:
- We are still after Taarabt (same agent as Alex)
- Nice words for Inzaghi, but Berlu refused to comment on Seedorf
- When asked if Balo has future at Milan, Berlu said: "I think so, as long as he learns to play as a CF"

The way I see it, Berlu's answers were vague enough, so AFAIAC it is hard to draw any conclusions from what he said.

That's your opinion, but I completely disagree. This theory that Serie A teams are better defensively doesn't stick anymore. Premier League is a much more dynamic league, where pace and physicality are extremely emphasized, so if you can cut it there then I see no problem succeeding in Italy.

He's right though, about Balo learning to play as CF. That's the first step towards justifying his innate qualities. The second step is to stop believing he's Ibrahimovic, and play "honestly" and in the support of his teammates.