Runners-up Manchester City have again been the Barclays Premier League’s big spenders, dispensing a massive £61.4 million with still a month left of the transfer window. This money was spent on only three players – £30 million on Shakhtar Donetsk’s Fernandinho, £15 million on Sevilla’s Spanish international winger Jesús Navas and £16.4 million on Navas’s Sevilla teammate Álvaro Negredo.
Fernandinho is a Brazilian midfielder who played for Shakhtar Donetsk. The 28-year-old made 184 appearances for the Ukrainian side since 2005, scoring 31 goals. Fernando Luiz Roza, to call him by his full name, has played for Brazil five times but has yet to score a goal. He is best known as a pacey and creative box-to-box midfielder with a talent for reading the game. He has high passing ability and has been known to score the occasional screamer. With many years of experience under his belt, Man City fans will be expecting a lot of top-class performances. He will take the number 25 shirt which belonged to goalkeeper Joe Hart until last season, who now has the number one shirt. Fantasy Football managers will be pleased to know that at former club Shakhtar Donetsk, Fernandinho gained many assists which will generate a large number of points for your team if you do choose to have him in your squad for the upcoming season.
Also coming in was Sevilla’s loyal winger Jesús Navas. The 27-year-old had been branded as a one club man up until his move to England from Spanish side Sevilla. This was because since he was 17 in 2003, he had played over 284 times for Sevilla. In this time, Navas scored 23 goals and two for Spain in 28 appearances. His main abilities were his high-speed dribbling, skill and his exceptional pace which will suit City’s passing style. City fans will be licking their lips at the prospect of the likes of Yaya Touré and David Silva threading Navas through. They will simply sit back and watch him run. At the recent FIFA Confederations Cup, he helped Spain get to the final with great trickery and scintillating pace. However, he did not score or make an assist. This may have been due to homesickness. In Spain, he was well-known for his longing to return home whenever he was at an away game with Sevilla. On one occasion, when Sevilla had a training camp in Huelva only an hour’s drive away, Navas longed so much for home that his father and brother had to come and pick him up. At times he was also unable to play for Spain due to fears of being away from home.
Fantasy Football managers will also be pleased to know that Navas rarely missed a game through injury at Sevilla, therefore he will not have money wasted on him. He played 280 times in the league, adding 60 assists to his 23 goals. He picked up only five yellow cards last season with no reds. However, you must be careful as his pesky homesickness may be a thorn in your team’s side as he may want to return to his Andalusian home in Seville.
City’s last signing of the window so far was Sevilla’s Álvaro Negredo for a reported fee of around £16.4 million. The 27-year old Spaniard signed on July 19 and will wear the number nine shirt. The ex-Real Madrid B striker agreed a four year deal shortly after teammate Jesús Navas did the same. In 139 appearances for Sevilla, Negredo scored a very impressive 70 goals. That’s an average of one goal for every two games! I recommend that budding Fantasy Football managers really consider signing Negredo regardless of price as City does not have many strikers and have an incredible attacking team, which is sure to create many chances for him. He is a proven goal scorer so he’s likely to gobble up all those chances created for him.
Leaving the club are a few high profile names. These included ex-captains Carlos Tévez and Kolo Touré. The former went to Juventus and the latter went to Arsenal. Wayne Bridge and Roque Santa Cruz also left along with academy player Filippo Mancini. Tévez was instrumental in City’s famous last minute title-winning season two years ago. His transfer came as a surprise to most football fans as Tévez had been very effective in the Premier League. However, wherever he went, rumours of his unhappiness followed. At rivals Manchester United he was reportedly happy and then in a flash changed his mind. I t was the same at City. Eventually, an offer believed to be around £10 million arrived from Italian side Juventus. This offer was accepted and the Argentinian moved out of Manchester after spending six years in Lancashire. Many would say that £10 million was nowhere near enough but new manager Manuel Pellegrini did not want an unhappy controversial player in his team.
Kolo Touré signed for The Citizens in 2009 and was given the captain’s armband by then manager Mark Hughes. His transfer fee was rumoured to be around £14 million. In his four years at the club, he was the figurehead of Manchester City, scoring two goals in 82 solid appearances. His tackles and incredible game reading ability was indigenous to the Ivorian centre-back and he was worshipped by the fans. On March 3, 2011, it was revealed that Touré had failed a drug test and was subsequently suspended. A six month ban from football was imposed that same month. This lead to him falling out of favour. He was later only used as a squad player in City’s title-winning season. After only a handful of appearances, Liverpool reached an agreement with City to sign the 32 year-old on a free transfer. He signed a two year contract and was handed the number four shirt.
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