Neither Everton nor Sunderland have a shot either. The six clubs mentioned have a shot at 4th(Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Spurs), and legitimately I don't even think Spurs are in the discussion any longer if they lose Modric. I think next year will see 5 teams fighting for the champions league. As it stands now, I would put the ranking as Chelsea, City, Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs.
Really? Tevez is their best player, he wants out. They tried for Kaka, offered him huge wages, he said no. Tried for Villa, he said no. Tried for Sanchez he said no. In fact, only the players just below top class, and mercenaries like Tevez and Balotelli have any interest in going to City. It is why their team, other than Tevez and possibly Silva, is lacking in world class talent. They have a lot of nice players, even more mercenaries, and a huge number of players who are a waste of money. PS. I just thought about this, but Kompany is very good as well.
Yeah, not a bad strikeforce: Emmanuel Adebayor (TGO) Mario Balotelli (It) Craig Bellamy (WAL) Edin Dzeko (BIH) Jo (BRA) Roque Santa Cruz (PRY) Alex Tchuimeni-Nimely (ENG) Carlos Tevez (ARG)
City can attract most of the best. They'll be able to attract anyone in a couple of years if they win some major titles(premier league/champions league).
The whole line-up is a waste. Save for Joe Hart (next avatar), Kompany and Silva.. DJ too I guess. But still, they have Zabaleta, who is one of the better left-backs. Kompany is worldclass. Silva is. DJ is. Yaya is. Tevez is. Aguero might replace Tevez, and that's more worldclass. Need a solid right-wing, but Johnson may play there if Silva plays left and not central.
It depends on how they spend what they got from selling Young and Downing. They already have brought in Given, which I think will be a solid move for them.
Actually, I recall Johnson playing on the right and cutting in a lot in the box; beating a few defenders each time. I think he's comfortable there.
That about sums up that list. They also wasted money on 7 other players, with a few more candidates for that grouping.
Arsenal and Spurs can not match the wages of Chelsea or City unless they find that sort of money, which would require a major change at the top for each club. As much as I hate Arsenal, they have at least in part maintained their ownership, instead of selling their club off as Chelsea did. However, it is becoming quite clear that selling your club off is the model for success in the top flight. As far as Sanchez turning away from city, it is my understanding that he wants to go to Spain (at least that was the last report I heard). I think one of the two big boys will buy him, unless he goes to a bigger Italian club
I agree 100%. If they win the premier league, or make a deep run in this years Champions League, they will start attracting anyone as early as next summer. However, I think within the next 5 years they will get to that point, unless the Arabs bail on them. However, right now most top players don't want to go to City.
Sanchez has unofficially signed for Barca, worries me as a Madrista as Pedro was boring... Dzeko is class, Balotelli (i hate) but is class, Ade is; and obviously Tevez. All of them have bad attitudes, except the first.
I agree with you, I just think it'll happen a bit quicker than you seem to. No-one in the premier league is looking that strong, and city have superior squad depth than most, they're also pretty solid defensively and should be gelling better as a team than they were last year. Champions league is probably still a bit of a stretch with barca and real madrid being frighteningly good. But hey, it's all guesswork, Mancini might get sacked in December because they haven't won every game. edit- this post is a bit pointless re-reading it
I believe Harry when he says Modric is staying. If he were to leave for 30 odd million, it would depend on which players come to Spurs to replace him. We could buy 2 or 3 quality players with the money from Modric. However, it seems he is staying put.
Adebayor needs to the right situation and Spurs would be that for him. The chance to stick it to the gooners should excite him.
Isn't the situation a bit like Berbatov a few years ago? I can't see Modric not going if Chelsea are willing to pay say, £40million.
That would be too much in my opinion, but it is likely around 40 million would be needed to get Levy to sell.
If he is only going to accept offers from big clubs, then it looks as if Chelsea are out of the running already.
Modric is more what they need. He is proven in the premier league, and his passing can tear teams up. Kaka is more a direct player, who is honestly not what he used to be. If Chelsea get Modric, and then a second striker/attacking midfielder to play behind Torres(or Anelka for the 25-30 games Torres is injured for), that would be better than getting Kaka(in my opinion).
Chelsea are the second biggest club in England; probably the biggest in recent years. If it wasn't for a meltdown, malaria, and an imposing Russian; Chelsea would've won for the past few years.
