Although Manchester City has been ravaged with injuries, they’ve managed to keep pace with Chelsea at the top of the English Premier League. And they’ve even managed to make to the knockout round of the Champions League, too (although a soft schedule has helped).
The injuries are going to catch up with them. Most notably, the loss of striker Sergio Aguero, who might be the MVP in the league so far with 14 goals, has been the biggest hit. He will likely be out until January and that loss has been compounded by the injuries to both Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic. Help could be on the way if City decides to open up their accounts during the January transfer window. A number of names have been kicked about and here are the five most likely targets:
Mario Mandzukic
Mandzukic signed with Atletico Madrid from Bayern Munich in the summer, so it would probably take quite the offer to get him, but the Croatian has scored 14 goals in 22 games for Atletico this season. He would be an excellent alternative to Dzeko as a big center-forward, but he presents touch and skill with the ball. The original assumption was that with Atletico ranking third in La Liga and already through to the Champions League knockout stage, they might not hesitate to let him go. However, it looks like Atletico are close to a deal with Fernando Torres – even after his permanent move to AC Milan – which might hint that Mandzukic is on his way out. They don’t have the money to sign him permanently but a loan from Milan is feasible.
Papis Cisse
Cisse has scored seven goals in 11 appearances for Newcastle this season, his fourth with the club, so he is used to the speed of the Premier League. Cisse’s pace would be a problem for the opposition and he seems to get up for big games. Heading into the season, there were some concerns about how he’d look after breaking his kneecap in April but he’s been fine, for the most part. Newcastle is asking for a lot of money for Cisse, but City has coin to get it done.
Christian Benteke
Benteke is also coming off a big injury as he ruptured his Achilles in April, but has managed to make it back with no ill effects. He has two goals and an assist since returning to the Aston Villa lineup (against City on October 4th). He is the most creative player on a Villa team that doesn’t have much outside of him, so they would want a high price for him.
At the same time, Benteke is only 24 and could be worth the price tag for a team like City. Benteke has made 20 appearances for Belgium, which is quite a bit considering his young age. He’s clearly a quality player who is already used to the English style of play and would be a great option for City as long as they don’t mind the cost.
Wilifred Bony
Bony scored twice for the Ivory Coast at the World Cup and has since scored eight goals in the league, including a single in Swansea’s 2-1 loss to City. The monkey wrench in the plan is that Bony just signed a one-year extension at Swansea in November, but as teams have shown in the past, a lot of stuff can change when you throw bags of money at it.
Edinson Cavani
Cavani has been slated to leave Paris Saint-Germain for a couple of years now but it hasn’t come to fruition yet. There does seem to be some more urgency this time around as he apparently wants to get out of the shadow of Zlatan Ibrahimovich. City would be a nice landing place for him but Cavani would be cup-tied for the Champions League as he has already played for PSG. Still, the striker from Uruguay would look good in the baby blue of Manchester City.
