Roberto Mancini has confirmed Manchester City are in talks over potential signings and said he hopes to bring in new players in the next fortnight.
GettyImagesRoberto Mancini is hoping Manchester City can add to the squad prior to the Community Shield on August 12
• Mancini rues lack of signings
City have had an uncharacteristically quiet summer so far, and Mancini – who had aired his frustrations last summer over the protracted signing of Samir Nasri – this week hinted at a dissatisfaction with the failure to further strengthen the squad.
It is thought City executive Brian Marwood is loath to add to an already substantial wage bill as the ramifications of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play plan loom, and as yet the club have been unable to offload the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Roque Santa Cruz and Kolo Toure.
Nonetheless, Mancini remains convinced that City need to spend to enhance the squad, and has indicated that arrivals are expected in the near future.
“It’s important to change some players in some positions,” Mancini said. “If we are going to have a winning mentality and we want to win, it is important. We won the last championship and we have a good team, but this year will be harder because, when you win, the problem is to win again. For this reason I think that we need to improve our team with maybe some new players.
“I’m sure that maybe in the next two weeks we can do something about new players. We are talking to some players, but the market is not easy. It’s difficult, and for this reason we need more time.”
Asked how many players he is looking to sign, Mancini said: “We have a lot of players – I don’t think we need ten new ones. We need to improve some positions, but I won’t say two, three, one. Any new player must come here and help the team improve.”
Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi and Arsenal striker Robin van Persie have both been strongly linked, though Mancini said he did not believe a bid had been lodged with the Gunners for the latter.
