Manchester City’s off-season has seen much goal scoring talent fly off to Italy as Carlos Tevez joined Mario Balotelli in bidding the squad adieu. City fans have been hammering on about the need for striking talent and so far that noise has been met with inspired midfield signings.
There is no doubt that Fernandinho is a tremendous upgrade from Toure’s usual midfield partners, Gareth Barry or Javi Garcia. He is a proper box-to-box midfielder whose mobility will be a breath of fresh air compared to the largely static Barry.
Jesus Navas is also a fantastic addition, and far outpaces any of City’s other options for the wings. During the Confederations Cup, his stepping on the field always looked to give Spain more attacking verve, as he hungers for the box and easily beats fullbacks to it. He will provide excellent service, draw more than a few penalties, and score some goals.
Neither of them is a striker, however, and for a squad that was lacking goals last season and has now lost a major goal scorer in Tevez, they do not complete this puzzle.
Enter Montenegro international Stevan Jovetic.
The Fiorentina striker is a perfect fit for City for a number of reasons. First and foremost, he can play (and reportedly prefers) an attacking midfield / secondary striker role, a position vacated at City by Carlos Tevez.
City’s 4-4-1-1 from last year and Pellegrini’s favored 4-2-3-1 both employ the use of a CAM in the “hole” behind the main striker, and Jovetic behind either Dzeko or Aguero would find him in his element – using his height (over 6ft) and dribbling ability to either hold up play just outside the box or force his way forward and onto goal.
With the Spanish duo of Silva and Navas on the wings, Jovetic will have some of the best service on earth, and in Fernandinho and Yaya Toure, he has no better targets barreling in from midfield.
A move for a striker like Jovetic, one with proven dribbling skills and positional versatility (he is quite comfortable on the wings) would be inspired and really in my view complete this Manchester City puzzle. Every weakness in their squad looks to be addressed by the time the season begins in little over a month.
They also have in Pellegrini a manager with a proven ability to organize a proper defense, even without superstars, so expect City’s best in the league defense to continue on that path. But with more versatility, vision, and goals in attack, plus another proper midfield boss in Fernandinho, City fans must feel their team are favorites to win the EPL and make a deep run into the Champion’s League.
So, does Stevan Jovetic excite the City fans among you? Does Jovetic fit the description? Should they look elsewhere? Can the right striker bring the title back to the Etihad? Have your say in the comments!
No possibility of Silva playing out wide he will play in the middle.