Mancini is reportedly tiring of misfiring Mario, and with AC Milan keen on bringing him back to Italy, could a deal be arranged for El Shaarawy?
There is a curious lack of zip around the Manchester City attack at the moment, much of which is surely due to the injury to David Silva, and indeed the poor form the Spaniard demonstrated before the injury. However considering the talent of the four strikers they have, they should still be able to win matches with ease. But all four of their frontmen failed to fire against West Ham at the weekend, and Roberto Mancini is prepared to make additions in order to add some spark to the squad.
Neymar has been mooted has someone who could certainly add some razzmatazz to City’s line-up, but it is likely the Santos star will remain in Brazil at least until the World CUp in 2014. Therefore Mancini is instead looking towards his homeland, and the excellent recent form of Stephan El Shaarawy.
Despite AC Milan’s awful start to the season, El Shaarawy has stood out as one of the stars of Serie A. The forward has netted eight goals in eleven games in the league, and scored a stunning individual effort at Zenit to help his side win 3-2 in the Champions League. El Shaarawy is only twenty, and would give City an option through the centre or across a front three.
To bring someone in, you would think City will need to ship someone out. Having four top class strikers has already led to discontentment over starts, with Edin Dzeko grumbling over his role as a super sub in recent matches. Of the four Balotelli looks the likeliest to leave, with his attitude issues requiring superb performances on the pitch to justify his place at the club. He certainly wasn’t on fire at West Ham, failing to register a shot on target despite having several good opportunities.
AC Milan are long time admirers of Balotelli, and he is reportedly a boyhood fan of the club. He even went as far as to wear the famous red and black strip during his time at their great rivals Inter. Whilst the Milan club would be keen to see Balotelli play with El Shaarawy, their financial situation could make a City move for the latter hard to resist.
These kind of cash plus player deals are highly rare in English football, but Milan undertook one over the summer, trading Cassano fro Pazzini at Inter. With Mancini looking to add spark to his attack, and AC Milan keen to bring Balotelli home, this move cold benefit all parties. The Italians may have denied today the rumours of a swap deal, but as we know in football, that is not necessarily the end of it.
image: © praguegallagher
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