I am pretty certain that the signing of Kun from Atletico Madrid was as a replacement for Tevez and when he stayed it looked as if we had a wealth of riches in the attacking department, so much so, the man who shared the golden boot last season with Dimitar Berbatov has barely featured for us. It would appear that everything came to a head on Tuesday night and his refusal to play was most likely based on his frustration over a lack of game time.
We are therefore back exactly where we were all those months ago, except one thing is different, we are talking about replacing Tevez....again. It could be debated at great length whether Aguero would have been signed had it not been for the outcry from Tevez, but the general consensus seems to be that was the case, I therefore find it a little strange that we are now scratching our heads and talking about bringing in a replacement.
I suppose it is a fair comment that strikers are relatively thin on the ground, we have Dzeko, Balotelli and Sergio Aguero, but with our wealth of attacking midfield talent and the fact that we generally play one striker with three players behind I think 3 could be enough to see us through comfortably. The fact that Tevez has barely been used surely demonstrates this fact. It does appear however that Mancini is keen to bring in a new striker and unsurprisingly the papers have linked us with numerous options.
It could perhaps be lazy journalism, but I am hardly surprised that we have been linked with Arsenal forward Robin Van Persie, he is running down his contract and supposedly has no real interest in renewing it, but at 28, and with his injury record I am hardly full of enthusiasm for that possible signing. There has been talk of a mega money move for Neymar the Brazilian prodigal genius but again questions about his temperament worry me, and then there was probably the most attractive prospect Edinson Cavani, who is currently tearing it up for Napoli.
None of the prospects are particularly awful, although I do have grave misgivings about Neymar, but I still remain uncertain about the necessity to bring in another striker. Part of the problem with Tevez was his unwillingness to play second (or fourth) fiddle to other players and quite frankly that makes me question whether we do really need another big name forward. The depth would be useful, 3 strikers is maybe 1 light but another big name? For me there is a better option.
I would rather see us go for a young kid capable of scoring, or a proven goal scorer playing at a lower level who would be happy to gain experience and play a bit part. One newspaper in France have linked us and other clubs with a move for young French wonderkid M'Baye Niang. The 16 year old is currently playing for Caen in Ligue 1 and is expected to be a really top player, that would be the sort of option I would prefer to see us pursuing. It wouldn't even have to be someone playing in the top flight, not a glamorous choice but Nicky Maynard has scored plenty of goals in the Championship and has been watched by many top flight clubs, he would I am unsure love the opportunity at a big club like City but would also be more than willing to play a smaller part initially, Wilfried Zaha is another youngster in the Championship that has been linked with some top clubs, Barcelona no less.
The bottom line is that I feel we already replaced Tevez this Summer and bringing in a top player now will only cause problems in the attacking ranks since not all of them can play. I would much prefer us to go for a youngster or someone like Maynard in the Championship, someone who would be a good player but would also be prepared to wait for his chance.
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