Manchester City have revealed their search for top talent
to Eastlands in the January transfer window is already well under
way.
City are now one of the heavyweights in the football transfer
market following the arrival of billionaire new owners, the Abu
Dhabi United Group, in August.
Backed by new found riches, boss Mark Hughes signed Robinho in a
British record deal from Real Madrid on deadline day of the summer
transfer window, while he also bid for Stuttgart striker Mario
Gomez and Valencia star David Villa.
And Hughes' assistant manager Mark Bowen has now revealed that
City, who have also been linked with Bayern Munich forward Lukas
Podolski, already have their 'private detective' scouts working
abroad in preparation for when the transfer window reopens in
2009.
"We have people out there looking at names already, we will be
travelling Europe over the next few months," Bowen told City's
official website.
"We also have the chance, because we know what the budget is, to
target players at the very top so if you think you can get them
maybe they will come."
Bowen, though, insists Hughes is determined to maintain harmony
at City and is eager to secure a strong dressing room spirit.
"You can also do a lot of background work, a lot of our scouts
might almost be like private detectives to see if a target might
settle in with us," Bowen added.
"Are they likely to embrace what we do, not just on the pitch
but on the training ground as well?
"The gaffer puts a lot of emphasis on training and if you are
asking players to perform at the highest level of intensity, then
bringing people in who just want to stand around at training
counting the hours to Saturday might upset the balance as well.
"That homework has to be done. Possibly the hardest job will be
careful selection of the players we bring in, but also moulding
them into a team. We have to make sure that we have a team.
"You can't just point at the best players in the world, it does
not work that way. You have to man-manage them and motivate them,
you have to carefully select who you bring in and who they will
work around."