20 teams in 20 days – Manchester City

By on August 5, 2014

Manchester City have a total market value worth the second highest in the Premier League, just few million Euros behind Chelsea. And certainly, as a club owning two other oversea franchises spending frequently, they still have a lot more money to invest in their squad. Yet this summer, they have spent only a little over £22 million on improving their squad. But sometimes less, is more. City are coming into the new season with a side much like that which has won two of the past three Premier League titles – why dramatically change something that has been so successful?

Some clubs are always constantly rotating players out for bigger name and more expensive players – Manchester City have the money to, but don’t, because they have no need up. Up front, they have Sergio Aguero, backed by Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko. With the signing of Fernando Reges, they now have two defensive midfielders, three when Yaya Toure is played in front of the defense. And when Toure plays in the center of midfield, they have him, Fernandinho, and 21-year-old starlet Bruno Zuculini to count on, as well as Frank Lampard. At full-back they literally have enough talent to field two world class pairings, with Gael Clichy, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov, Micah Richards, and Bacary Sagna. Goalkeeper Willy Caballero has also arrived from Malaga – even in goal they have competition for starting positions. It is fair to say that the club could easily field two completely different starting lineups with not much difference in quality between the two.

Manuel Pellegrini’s tactic will be simple this season, keep up and improve on what they did last season, not introduce any major overhauls. And as most of their squad is now entering the peak of their prime (throughout their squad the average age is 27.9 as of August 5th), it is improving itself. Pellegrini has learned from some of his mistakes of spending too much at Real Madrid. He is by no means at a lack of funding, but uses what funding he has wisely. Manchester City are only a better side than they were last season when they won the league – they have to be viewed as the team to beat this coming season.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.