Are Manchester City trying to build two teams?

So City are linked, or have been linked, with Pogba, De Bruyne, Wilshere, Sterling and believe it or not Ramos, Pedro Fabinho, Hamsik, Delph & baba Rahman. So what would that mean for their current squad? Well take a look here are not just one, but two, predicted line ups featuring two separate teams. 

 

So that is 22 players plus Baba Rahman, Navas, Dzeko, Sagna, Hamsik, Delph & Jovetic all who arguably could get into either of those squads depending on your opinion on style of play.

Why have they been linked with so many players? Is it because they are crazy? Or is part and parcel of the game? Well a little of both but mainly the latter.

So ultimately, like most things in life, it's important to not show too much of an interest otherwise you hand all the power over to a particular player who can then manipulate you in order to get the best deal for them as opposed to the best deal for you. As long as City have options then players who may be interested in joining know they have to show some interest themselves. 

Another factor here is of course that not all these players will come to City. Being linked with a player does not mean there will be a transfer and often the media seems to make up certain rumours as they are under pressure to sell papers or use up website pages and will take any hint of a transfer an act as if it is going to happen. 

Then you have the fact that not all these players currently at City will remain. Often if new players are linked it's because current players are linked away. It is, obviously, important to stay ahead of the game in the transfer market and that sometimes involves purchasing players before you have sold the players they are replacing. This is because City might not be the only club attempting to sign that player and so it is important to secure those players quickly. Often players will leave if a player is signed in their place.

Now take everything I just said with a pinch of salt. There are always exceptions to the rules and the reason I have decided to write about City is because they do seem to have gone a tad overboard. Firstly some players need all your attention. Pogba being the perfect example of this. There is no superior to Pogba and so any other player they are linked with is a resignation that City weren't good enough for Pogba and of course it reflects badly on them. However, to be honest, they can't sign Pogba if he doesn't want to come them but they should still definitely try. Ultimately it doesn't matter if the clubs image is temporarily hurt as the player is going to pick the club that he thinks is the best fit for him, so City have to work as hard as they can to make him feel like their club is where that is. 

My problem with City is the signings they are trying to make. There are a few they have been linked with which hold validity. They are De Bruyne, Pogba, Sterling and arguably Wilshere. Now, Toure had a fairly poor season last season but two of cities best players are Toure and definitely Silva. They are looking at four people to join (or replace) those two players. I don't think Silva is going anywhere. You can see from the first 11 (above) it would be incredibly compact and Sterling wouldn't even make the cut. there would be no defence. Fernandinho and Fernando didn't seem to cut it last season so surely that is a place in which they want to improve. The crux of the matter is that City are showing a similar operating style to that of what they did through out last season. That is that they are acting superior to their counterparts (something that has been proven to not be true). They are simply buying the best players in Europe regardless of how they fit into their team. These transfers would be a statement of superiority and while inevitably improving the team, because that is what world class players do, they wouldn't necessarily work together as well as City probably imagine and City could be subject to the same disappointing season as the last.