Source: Daily_Mail
Manchester City spree will top £150m as Blues step up chase for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko
Manchester City will step up their quest for a striker this week as they prepare to take their summer spending past £150million. [LNB]Target man: but Wolfsburg's £50m asking price for Edin Dzeko may be a stumbling block[LNB]City spent £60m last week when they confirmed deals for Jerome Boateng, Yaya Toure and David Silva, and they plan to conclude another £42m worth of business with Lazio's Aleksandar Kolarov and Aston Villa's James Milner over the next few days. [LNB]As Sportsmail has revealed, they are significant steps in what will be the biggest spending spree under taken by a British club in one summer, dwarfing the £120m they spent last year, and the piece de resistance is yet to be delivered. [LNB]City fear they will miss out on Fernando Torres because of his preference for playing elsewhere if he leaves Liverpool, but the club have other strikers in mind. [LNB]They have made a play for Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko and were alarmed at the German club's £50m demands.[LNB] Juventus and Bayern Munich have made counter-offers but the Bosnia international is keen on City and has asked to go. The problem for Dzeko is that fiercely proud Wolfsburg would have to back down. [LNB]INS AND OUTSWHO'S ARRIVED SO FAR? YAYA TOUREFrom Barcelona for £25.5m DAVID SILVA From Valencia £24m JEROME BOATENG From Hamburg for £10.5m [LNB]WHO'S LOOKING FOR A NEW CLUB? ROBINHO Latest interest from Turkish club Besiktas. CRAIG BELLAMY Toss up between Everton and Tottenham. JO Probably heading back to Galatasaray. NEDUM ONUOHA Waiting for Everton to strike a deal. STEPHEN IRELAND Aston Villa and Sunderland in pursuit. SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS Villa have made an enquiry. [LNB]WHO'S STAYING TO FULFIL THE ENGLISH QUOTA? GARETH BARRY JOLEON LESCOTT WAYNE BRIDGE MICAH RICHARDS[LNB]Despite City's spending power, illustrated in their willingness to giveSilva and Toure £160,000 a week in wages, the club do not want to payover the odds. [LNB]For that reason they have also asked about Mauro Balotelli, the gifted but troubled teenager at Inter Milan, Palermo's Edinson Cavani, Mirko Vucinic of Roma and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, also a Manchester United target.None is without complication but City never expected their rise to the top to be easy. [LNB]They are undertaking a recruitment drive that will stand them in good stead for at least the next five years, sourcing talent for every position and at different tiers from youth level to first team. [LNB]Club officials held talks about their plans on Friday and many of the City players who return for pre-season training at Carrington today will, with some justification, be questioning where they fit in.A spending programme of such a scale, in today's financial climate, still needs to be balanced.[LNB] As Parma-bound Valeri Bojinov made a sharp exit yesterday, it is safe to as sume Craig Bellamy, Robinho, Nedum Onouha and Stephen Ireland will not be far behind. [LNB]Certain recent recruits, such as Patrick Vieira, will have to accept their best role will be on the bench and some players will have to accept they are at Eastlands to help meet the Premier League's 'homegrown' quota. [LNB]Indeed, on last season's displays, only Joe Hart and Adam Johnson of the British contingent may be guaranteed a start. They say it is tough at the top. Manager Roberto Mancini may be about to show his players just how true that is.[LNB] Man City flop Bojinov secures exit as Parma turn his loan deal permanentRedknapp targets Manchester City firebrand Bellamy for Spurs switchBring back Robinho! City's Brazil star deserves another chance, says GivenMANCHESTER CITY FC
