Football News: Who can Man City sell to pay for Bony

Image from: fullfifa.com

Before I start this article, I should point out that in my personal opinion the FFP ruling is nothing but a deliberate policy aimed at stopping anyone from challenging the old boys club at the top of the club game. For me, it is nothing more than a way of ensuring that teams like Real Madrid are always ahead of the rest of the European teams.

But that having been said, I am wondering how Manchester City, who are already being sanctioned for failing to keep within the FFP allowances, can go out and get Wilfried Bony? Are they intending to challenge the legality of the ruling, as other clubs have threatened to in the past? Or do they have a number of big outs expected to keep them in line with the ruling?

Judging by their attitude in recent months towards UEFA and the big clubs who are behind FFP, it seems unlikely they intend to fight against any punishment. It seems almost certain that City are preparing for bringing in large amounts of money, either in this January window or in the summer. So I thought I would discuss the options of players they can raise big money from.

First of all it seems certain that 3 players, though any of them would fetch large money, can be ruled out of the equation. Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Vincent Kompany are not players the club are looking to move on, they are also players the club shouldn't move on, even if the 3 do miss time through injury. Joe Hart is another that can quickly be ruled out, though he doesn't convince me personally.

The most likely mover is Yaya Toure, huge wages, constant whines about ridiculous things, lazy performances for months on end, it would make sense to replace him, no matter how good a player he is. His attitude has been stinking up Eastlands for a while now, his sale, while weakening the team, would improve the teamwork. Bony can provide the goals, the power, the pace, that Yaya brings to the table, so why not move him while Toure can bring in a good return?

The only other outstanding option to bring in enough money to make a difference is Edin Dzeko, though I am not a big fan of his, he would bring in a significant return. For me, Dzeko lacks the touch, the pace, the movement to be any more than a back up striker at Citeh. I would certainly expect his transfer to fetch a decent amount of money, and see Bony as a significant upgrade over him.

Stefan Jovetic is another name that was put forward to me, but I don't believe he would fetch enough of a return to make it worthwhile offloading him. Injuries have restricted his time on the pitch, those injuries have made him look fragile and lowered his value to any buying club. For me, the quality he shows when he is fit would be enough to ensure I would want to keep him.

Other than those players, there is, surprisingly, very little in the way of sale value in the Manchester City squad, Samir Nasri and Jesus Navas being about all that is left, neither would really replace the money spent on Bony. Though, in my opinion, Navas is simply not good enough, he clearly adds width and pace and a completely different dimension from the other players available to Manual Pellegrini.

The removal of a number of players, such as Nastasic and Milner, off the wage bill will go a long way towards rectifying Man City's FFP issues. Add that to Champions League money and Premier League prize money and perhaps they don't actually need to sell any of their first team to move within the guidelines, but it is hard to see how that can be so. Especially as they struggle to fill the ground for home matches, that lost revenue is a huge problem for them while operating under FFP.

Written by Tris Burke January 14 2015 14:08:51