The Yaya Toure transfer saga with Manchester City, has been one of the largest oddities to exist this offseason, second only to possibly former Liverpool’s resident cannibal Luis Suarez again feeding in public. Toure has made disparaging comments about the club, and the club has responded denying all his claims that he was not allowed to visit his brother in his final days.
This controversy has led the reigning Barclays Premier League Champions to sign Fernando from FC Porto. This signing at first made it seem it like Yaya Toure was now going to be on his way out, and that Fernandinho was going to replace him at City. Upon further examination of the league schedule though, regardless if Yaya Toure stays with City or not for this season, he will be missing key fixtures due to representing Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations, so Fernando or at least another proven center defensive midfielder had to be brought in.
The last time Yaya Toure had left for the continental tournament coupled with his nation making a deep run, came at the expense of City. Now, this is not to slag off Toure and say he should put club before country, actually the issue is with City. They should have recognized that they would need to have a proper back up for when the player leaves, and Manuel Pellegrini scooped up a proven player who still can grow.
Pellegrini recognized that he would need a lot more depth in his midfield despite claims that City has enough players. When Fernandinho was out on injury the club struggled to score, and now facing the possibility that a Toure who scored 20 goals and provided 9 will be gone against three key teams is worrying. The teams that Toure will miss are Everton (A), Arsenal (H), Chelsea (A), at the very least. This is not taking into account any possible injuries or too exhausted to play.
Fernando will decidedly help those matters, he’s a strong passer and can retain possession based off his WhoScored.com profile. Fernando boasts as well previous Champions and Europa League qualifications and an undefeated season under his belt in the Portugese League. Granted he’s not going to light up the league with goals and assists but he is not suppose to be the Toure replacement rather someone who can provide cover. His role will be conservative and look for him to be subbed on more often than not to kill games that have been won, or to supplement an injured Fernandinho or Toure.
Pellegrini this transfer season has been making decidedly more defensive moves. The signing of Fernando and the new capture of goalkeeper Willy Caballero, Pellegrini is trying to close the gaps in defense. The only real complaint so far is that with the re-signing of Aleks Kolarov and no new left back in sight it looks like the position will continue to be an issue for the club in having Gael Clichy and Kolarov alternate roles. This new depth in the English club’s defense should help the teams attempt at defending their two titles, as well as making deeper runs into the Champions League and the FA Cup. There will be a lot of games this season for City, and players will have numerous chances to fight for a spot.
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