Last weekend the rumour was a direct swap with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. This weekend the club linked with the “great” Portuguese manager is Manchester City.
It seems surprising that Roberto Mancini’s job is under threat at all as his team sit top of the Premier League table, but should they finish the season without the Premier League trophy in their cabinet then I do think the men behind all the high profile signings will be issuing Mancini with his P45.
Also strange is how quick Mourinho has fallen out of favour with the Real Madrid supporters. Certainly his mandate when he arrived was to topple Barcelona domestically and deliver Champions League success. He was expected to beat arguably the best club side in world football over the course of a season and conquer Europe. The fact Real achieved a record number of points in his first season and still finished second means little to the fickle nature of Real’s owners. The matches against Barcelona have seen some ugly scenes from manager and players alike but you have to agree with Mourinho’s comments that Barcelona always get the favourable 50-50 decisions. Currently with a 5 point lead over rivals Barcelona, Mourinho is in pole position to win a league title in his fourth country. The Champions League may be just out of his reach this season.
So back to England he is looking. Once he admitted he had a desire to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford but Mourinho hasn’t the best track record of longevity. That is why should Mancini fail this season, then I think Mourinho will be sold especially with the pools of finance that will be available to him.
This will spell trouble for the rest of Europe. City will be able to buy anyone that other clubs are chasing and not necessarily play them in the first team week in week out. With a solid goalkeeper in Joe Hart, Mourinho’s first point of call will be improving the back four. It’s not beyond the realms of disbelief that 3 ex Mourinho players could join him at the Etihad Stadium next year. Maicon from Inter Milan at right back, Ashley Cole from Chelsea at left back and Pepe from Real Madrid alongside Vincent Kompany in the centre of a formidable defence.
We could see a frustrated Frank Lampard or Wesley Sneijder link up with their former mentor and Didier Drogba or Hulk would be a much better focal point than the erratic Eden Dzeko. A front 3 of Drogba or Hulk, Aguero and David Silva will put the frighteners up anyone and with James Milner, Yaya Toure and Sneijder or Lampard they would have an extremely talented midfield.
Of course certain players will become surplus to requirements. Santa Cruz seems likely to leave for Spain and Adebayor is unlikely to remain a City player although Mourinho has worked with him at Real Madrid. Could Wayne Bridge’s career which has stalled to this point, be reinvigorated with the return of a former boss. De Jong, Barry, Adam Johnson could all be on their way out of Manchester. Savic and Owen Hargreaves will certainly be surplus to requirements.
The man that Mourinho is means that former players don’t have to think to hard to want to play for him and we have seen the wonders he can do with them. Manchester City’s wealth of riches means that a whole squad could be signed fairly easily and if he was to become City’s next manager I’ll be going straight out to put a bet on them winning next seasons Champions League
Who do you think City should sign if Mourinho joins. Comment below.
Written by Wesley Hillier @armchairstato.blogspot.com
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