As is always the case in the football pre-season, it has been a summer of transfer sagas in the Premier League.
Manchester United are currently in battle with Chelsea to keep hold of star striker Wayne Rooney, while Arsenal have also expressed an interest.
Looking across the league, Tottenham are desperately trying to keep hold of sought-after forward Gareth Bale, last season’s third highest scorer in the Premier League.
Liverpool have got a long summer ahead, with their Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez repeatedly expressing a desire to leave.
And amidst all this, Manchester City, for the first time in a while, seemed to have slipped under the radar, and are doing some astute transfer business.
City seemed to have learnt their lessons from last summer after losing out to United in the battle to sign Robin van Persie.
Despite losing Argentine striker Carlos Tevez, the club have acted quickly to fill the void, with the signing of Alvaro Nedgrado and pending transfer of Stevan Jovetic.
Thus, City have not only replaced one first-team player with two, but now boast four top-class strikers for the first time since Mario Balotelli’s departure in January.
Come the start of the Premier League season, they may be the only club to boast such a wealth of options, if Rooney and United do indeed part company.
The signing of Negredo follows the club’s acquisitions of Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho from Shakhtar Donetsk for £34million and Spanish winger Jesus Navas from Sevilla for £14.9million.
All three players will give City something that they lacked last season, and could well be the difference between champions and runners-up.
Navas could be the solution to City’s problems on the wing which Scott Sinclair was not.
He also will give City more width and pace than James Milner and David Silva down the flanks.
More importantly, the Spaniard is an out-and-out winger, which Samir Nasri – often deployed in the position by Roberto Mancini – is not.
Negredo is the number nine, or ‘fox in the box’, who could help City turn draws and losses into wins.
He is dominant in the air and a real goal poacher, with many of his goals last season coming from inside the six-yard box.
With the role of Spain’s main striker still up for grabs prior to next summer’s World Cup, Negredo will no doubt jump at the chance to play regularly for one of Europe’s top clubs.
And, at the age of 27, Negredo’s best years could still be ahead of him.
Fernandinho, a box-to-box midfielder, will add pace, superb passing range and creativity to what is, without Yaya Toure, a static midfield.
Like Negredo, Fernandinho will want to stake a claim for a regular starting spot for his country, with his homeland Brazil hosting the World Cup.
And with the announcement that Monetengrin forward Stevan Jovetic looks set to join up with the club in coming days, City’s summer spending spree looks for once to be justified.
The forward has attracted many suitors, however his decision to join City perhaps indicates the expectation which has returned to the club for the coming season.
City’s bid to win back the Premier League crown is also strengthened by the fact that, so far, rival clubs have yet to make signings of a similar calibre to them.
Chelsea have so far added Andre Schurrle to their ranks, while Tottenham have captured the signature of Brazilian midfielder Paulinho.
While these are reasonably shrewd signings, neither jump out as players which will take their respective clubs to the next level.
Fellow title rivals Manchester United and Arsenal are yet to make any major summer signings, and have some catching up to do if they are to get close to City’s summer spending tally.
So while other clubs become embroiled in the ruthless transfer merry-go-round, Manchester City’s quiet dealings will see them return as English football’s driving force.
Picture courtesy of WikiCommons, with thanks.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
