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City’s spending spree makes sense in battle for fourth place
There’s been a fair bit of speculation, here and elsewhere, about whether Manchester City could actually win the Premier League title but a more realistic goal is a top four finish. That being the case, the summer spending spree seen by some as being brash and uncoordinated is actually very shrewd.
Look carefully, and what City have managed to do, with the recruitment of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa and Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from Arsenal, is to weaken two of their rivals for fourth place.
Last season Villa and Arsenal fought tooth and nail for that position and with his transfer policy Mark Hughes has struck an early couple of blows in this season’s fight.
Note that City also have their sights on defender Joleon Lescott from Everton, another team with Champions League aspirations.
Add to that the hugely satisfying signing of former Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez and there would seem to be a pattern to their spending spree — even if results are not yet going their way.
haha thats the point these players obviously dont have as much ambition to succeed as they do to make loads of money! look at gareth barry for example saying he would only leave for a champs league team last season and rafa benitez said he even bid for him this transfer window, and you didnt even get in the europa cup which to me speaks volumes, yeah u wanna get in the top 4 but buyin most of the bad apples from the teams above you and mashing them together is hardly going to garauntee that is it