So the transfer saga of the summer is over as Manchester City have finally completed the signing of England international James Milner with Stephen Ireland moving to Villa Park as part of the deal.

While Manchester City have undoubtedly got themselves a top quality player we will have to wait and see whether or not the move turns out to be a good one for Milner. City fans will take to Milner as the supporters of all his previous teams have done because he not only brings with him an abundance of quality but a great work ethic. However, the big question remains was the time right for Milner to move on?

Since moving to Villa permanently in August 2008 Milner’s game developed greatly under the guidance of Martin O’Neill. Playing alongside other young English prospects such as Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor the team flourished and established themselves as a top six Premier League team looking to make the next step and break into the ‘big four’. Milner played a big part in this and his impressive performances hadn’t gone unnoticed as he established himself in the England squad. Playing week in, week out, Milner was clearly enjoying his football and the timing of this move to City just seems strange in my opinion. While O’Neill has departed Villa they still have a squad capable of having another impressive campaign and Milner would be an integral part of this as his performance at the weekend showed.

The Villa side know each other inside out and play as a team and this is something that will take time to establish at Eastlands. Milner may also have to come to terms with the fact that he will not play every game. I don’t think he has moved for the money but that will accusation will be thrown at him because he will be getting paid significantly more than he was at Villa Park. A former teammate of Milner’s Gareth Barry made a similar move the season before and his game has not progressed a great deal since then, some would argue it has taken a step back. Milner is a great player and I would like him to do well at Manchester City but can’t help but feel he wouldn’t have gone far wrong by staying put at Villa for a while longer. As the saying goes, if it isn’t broken don’t try and fix it and Aston Villa football club despite O’Neill’s departure is anything but broken.

Well the 30 players named in Fabio Capello’s England squad have had multiple trainng sessions and two games to earn their place on the plane to South Africa.

Now is the time that this squad must be trimmed to 23 players, meaning that 7 players will soon receive the dreaded phone call ending their World Cup dreams for at least four years if not forever.

I have analysed the squad and named the squad I would name for the World Cup; based on form, formation and ability.

In my opinion the following players should not make it into the final England squad for the FIFA World Cup 2010.

Michael Dawson

Matthew Upson

Stephen Warnock

Gareth Barry

Tom Huddleston

Shaun Wright-Phillips

Emile Heskey

In an attempt to rationalise and justify my choices, the list below shows the 11 players that I would consider guaranteed a place in the squad.

100% On The Plane

Defenders

With the goalkeeping spots decided by default, defence is the first area where a reduction in numbers needs to be made.

I will start by deciding who should definitely make the plane, due to the return from international retirement of Jamie Carragher, it can be deduced rightly that due to his versatility and experience, he cannot be left at home.

Alongside Carragher I would also include Ledley King in the squad, he has just about proved his form and fitness during a long and successful season with Tottenham.

With these decisions in mind, I think the first casualty of the squad reduction should be Matthew Upson, after playing consistently in one of the worse defences in the Premier League, he has shown little to warrant selection ahead of Ledley King or Michael Dawson.

I also think that Michael Dawson should be axed, as despite his solid form the inclusion of Jamie Carragher means that England already have four players that can play in the centre of defence.

The defensive quandaries are therefore reduced to deciding who should deputise for Ashley Cole at Left Back.

I would take Leighton Baines as a dependable back up option, with Stephen Warnock missing out in what feels like an unimportant coin flip between the two.

Midfielders

This is probably the hardest part of the decision process, as there are many players who have had flashes of brilliance, yet not shown enough to warrant automatic selection.

On the right there is a choice between Aaron Lennon, Theo Walcott and Shaun Wright Phillips. The guaranteed spot should go to Aarron Lennon who is stronger, more consistent and a better all round footballer than the other two. I would then include Theo Walcott as an impact player from the bench if required.

The other wide options would be made up of James Milner and Adam Johnson who have both excelled this season and can play on both wings.

In the centre, I would make my most controversial choice by omitting Gareth Barry, he is injured and therefore is unlikely to be at his best for the competition. England have had enough experience of playing with unfit players to know it is better to cut their losses on this occasion.

I would replace Gareth Barry with Scott Parker, one of the most underrated players qualified to play for England, there is a reason that he is the only West Ham player not for sale this summer.

Finally I would omit Tom Huddlestone from the squad, opting to include Joe Cole as he offers something creative which in limited Chelsea and England appearances he has shown this season.

Attackers

Arguably England’s achilles heel, the partnership  options involving Wayne Rooney have not quite been resolved. Based on form Emile Heskey is the man to make way, having not scored since February and unable to hold down a regular starting berth at his club, it is time to accept that dispite his obvious qualities, he is not an international class striker.

Therefore Jermain Defoe, Darren Bent and Peter Crouch join Wayne Rooney as England’s striking options.

Overview of Preparations

The most worrying part of England’s preparation for the tournament has to be a lack of depth, with all the questions raised during the recent friendlies; I hope that Fabio Capello has more of a clue of his best 23 than I do.

The only comforter from recent performances is that very rarely are these true indicators of tournament performance.

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It was often said through out much of the last ten years that England’s midfield was its strongest point. With Beckham in his pomp and Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard ably assisted by a constant rotation of players wedged in to the left midfield position, it often felt a little hollow. In the big games, they disappeared too easily. Until Capello arrived, it was constantly suggested that Gerrard and Lampard couldn’t play together and to some degree it was correct. Yet, great players should be able to fit in to any system, regardless of their natural instincts.

For South Africa 2010, things are very different. Of course, Beckham has no chance to play in the World Cup, which is unfortunate. Gerrard has had his worst season since becoming a first team regular at Liverpool as Liverpool huffed and puffed their way through dull performance after dull performance. Even the ever consistent Lampard had his struggles at the beginning of the season as he tried to familiarise himself with Ancellotti’s diamond formation but has been rampant over the last few weeks.

Add to that the major worries that Capello has on England’s right side. Walcott out of form and in and out of the side, Shaun Wright-Phillips struggling and Aaron Lennon just returning to the Spurs squad. Of course, James Milner could easily slip into that position, but he’s been excellent playing through the middle for Villa this season and the managers quandary becomes apparent. The left side also is far from decided, with Joe Cole, Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson and Ashley Young all having a claim on the position too.

Choices, choices choices but who to take. In 2006, Eriksson chose 9 midfielders in his squad of 23 and in 2002 took 7 midfielders. I’ve already picked 12 out of 23, which means I may have reflectively bump someone from the back line, but I’m going for 7 midfielders to join the squad.Gerrard, Lampard and Barry are all shoe-ins for me, no question. The question is who to add to that trio.

Crucially, James Milner has to be in, simply because he has been consistently outstanding this season. His ability to play on either wing, through the middle and even at right back cannot be overlooked. Sometimes a player who is so adaptable can sometimes be overlooked, but Milner’s case for inclusion is too strong. England’s record cap holder at Under 21 level has now progressed to becoming a valuable member of the squad. He has to be on the plane to South Africa.

That leaves several players scrapping for just 3 places, so best to rule a few out immediately. Adam Johnson, despite some rather unusual clamour for him to be included may find this is a tournament too early for him. He’s not really settled in to the Manchester City side, but is playing regularly but it would be a massive risk to take him as an international novice. Look at Theo Walcott in 2006, he never got a sniff of the first team and it probably cost England that they didn’t take Defoe or Bent instead. A bold move that backfired spectacularly.

Ashley Young is another one who is simply too widely inconsistent to be chosen along with Stewart Downing. Both Villa wing men can be devastating on their day but I don’t feel either can match the 3 wide players that I’ve chosen. Young is also easily got at, defenders can easily wind him up and he retreats into his shell too easily when things go against him. His distribution is so inconsistent as to be astounding, yes he may have pace by the bucket-load but invariably wastes great opportunities.

Downing, for all the clamour for a natural left footer, also flatters to deceive. I have constantly been amazed at the amount of hype this lad has had burdening him for so long because I can’t see what all the fuss is about. I’m assured by Middlesbrough fans he is a fantastic player, but I’ve never seen him have a great game, unlike some of his England rivals. So sorry, no place for him either.

The three I’ve plumped for may be classed as risks, but in the circumstances, all 3 can give us something the other contenders can’t. First up, Theo Walcott. The night he scored a hat trick against Croatia saw him jump in estimation, both in England and abroad. He has certainly continued to improve but still can’t force himself to become a regular at Arsenal. That’s no disrespect towards the lad, but he has been in devastating form for Arsenal when in form this year.

The other two may be the biggest risks of the lot, Joe Cole and Aaron Lennon. Both players have at times shown ability and skill that set them apart and both have benefited from the tutelage of Harry Redknapp. Lennon was highly regarded when he joined Spurs but he would be the first to admit that he’d slightly lost his way a little before Redknapp became manager. Until his injury, Lennon was playing the best football of his career and gave Spurs a thrust down the right flank that they’ve missed since December.

With him only just returning to fitness, Lennon could be a major risk but it could also be a bonus to take such devastating pace that has effectively had a four month break. Cole meanwhile has had similar struggles with injury and has the additional stress of his contract expiring in the summer. He is certain to be sure of plenty of suitors regardless of whether he stays at Chelsea or not. Cole has had a tough season but his grit is extremely underrated. Cole is a fighter, he digs in and he gives 100%, England can ask for nothing less.

So that’s my 7 midfielders for South Africa. Gerrard, Lampard, Barry, Milner, Walcott, Lennon and Cole. With my choice of Ledley King too, it gives us cover in midfield if really required, but I feel those 7 can cover all eventualities. It’s got experience, pace, adaptability and skill. What do you think? Please let me know below:

When watching Manchester City’s fantastic 4-2 Victory away to league leaders Chelsea, one thing was paramount in that game and it wasn’t Wayne Bridge V John Terry,  Two red cards, Manchester City’s flowing football, Shay Given’s commanding goal keeping or Roberto Mancini’s great man management and control of the game. It was Gareth Barry.

I lost count of the amount of times I heard Martin Tyler said “…And Chelsea can break now, they have Anelka to the left, Drogba on the edge of the box, but Gareth Barry once again breaks down the play.” Despite giving away a needless penalty, Barry was everywhere today picking up the ball from his solid back four and spreading the play so the often narrow Chelsea were caught out by Adam Johnson and Craig Bellamy. For instance, Barry’s precision pass to set Craig Bellamy away for City’s second goal.

Frank Lampard, might of scored two goals today, but his usual crisp passing was not there today. His England team mate was like a safety net in front of City’s back four. Barry reminded me off a former player in the opposite colours today, Claude Makelele, Makelele was one of the main reasons why Chelsea had so much domination when Jose Mourinho was in charge of the London club.

Barry’s pressure on Julian Belletti enabled him to steal the ball from the Brazilian however unlike most ball winners, Barry did not stop there. Barry continued to drive on, into the box and win his side a penalty. This piece of play epitomises Barry’s hard work and determination that helped City take three points away from Stamford Bridge today.

Its no surprise that when you look around the Premier Leagues top half, most if not all have a quality defensive midfielder. Second in the table and League Cup finalist, Manchester United, have a flurry of players that can employ the role of the defensive midfielder. Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes are all capable of sitting in front of United’s, sometimes unreliable back four. Arsenal have been missing a real defensive midfielder ever since Patrick Vieira decided to move to Inter Milan, however they are starting to replace him with Alexander Song.

Liverpool may have some mediocre results at times but one reliant player other than Gerrard and Torres, is always Jaiver Mascherano. Ever since Harry Redknapp prized Wilson Palacios away from Wigan Athletic, Tottenham’s midfield has moved on leaps and bounds; Palacios is the engine in the Spurs side. Stiliyan Petrov has been a fantastic buy for Villa this season and is another example of a perfect defensive midfielder.

Gareth Barry is a brilliant player and was magnificent today, and has been all season. If he doesn’t start in England’s side come the summer, Fabio Capello is making a huge mistake.

Along with the recent dip in form at Manchester City has come an unrest amongst the fans who have began to question as to why virtually the same team as the one that began the season so brightly currently appears to lack energy, creativity and flare. It seems as though one way or the other, the reasoning’s all revolve around the central midfield, the common consensus being that Mancini has brought with him the Italian obsession of defensive midfielders, breaking the link between the midfield and attack.

Take into account though that City have a positive goal difference of fifteen, scoring a total of forty eight goals and at the present time lying in fourth place in the Premier League and the argument seems to take a significant dent as a whole, but perhaps the problem is in the individuals. Gareth Barry, City’s summer signing from Aston Villa has not yet proved to be the box-to-box midfielder that his C.V may have suggested, although he has displayed a superb range of passing and the ability to dictate a game’s tempo. Lacking in pace, he perhaps is most destructive as a deep lying play-maker, similar to the role he adopts for his national side.

Patrick Vieira, recently signing from Serie A, still has to prove he has the ‘legs’ for the Premier League and is able to cope with the pace that demands such high fitness levels. Judging by his performances so far and the unnecessary lash out at Glen Whelan on Tuesday night, he still has a lot to prove to the City faithful. At six foot four he offers height and strength that potentially could bolster the midfield and if he is ninety percent of the player he was at Arsenal, then there is no reason as to why City’s midfield should lack an attacking side in the future. Complementing Barry and Vieira has been the Dutchman Nigel de Jong, a small but menacing holding midfield player, who’s job it is to break up opposition attacks and supply the flair players – the likes of Bellamy, Wright-Phillips and Tevez. Many state that he has been one of Manchester City’s most influential players this season, but often goes unnoticed patrolling in front of the back four.

This leaves Stephen Ireland, who undoubtedly was City’s star player last season, netting thirteen goals and picking up the Greater Manchester player of the year award. Unfortunately for the young Irishman, his performances this season have been short of average, not being helped with niggling injuries forcing him to miss sections of the season. Clearly, City miss his hunger to attack and his astonishing but still under-rated work ethic and creative instincts that formed him into one of the league’s best players last season.

Ireland appears to be the missing piece to the puzzle, someone who can play between the defensive midfielder/s and the strikers and with the likes of Barry and de Jong assisting him, it can only be a matter of time before the man from Cork finds his form once again.

Aston Villa are riding high under the tutelage of Martin O’Neill, a good crop of young English player have established the club in the higher echelons of the Premier League, but the last ten years has seen a number of player come and go at Villa Park, but who are the top five from the previous decade. Let’s find out.

5. Paul Merson: 1998 – 2002, 117 apps

He may not have played for much of the decade, he also had his troubles off the park, but the impact Paul Merson had on Aston Villa cannot be understated. Signed in the summer of 1998 for £6.75 million, he quickly established himself as a fans’ favourite, helping them reach the F.A. Cup Final in 2000. The goal below does nothing but demonstrate his immense talent.

4. James Milner: 2005-2006 & 2008 – present, 88 apps

A more recent edition to the list, James Milner has had two spells at Villa. First joining in 2005 for a season long loan spell from Newcastle United, he was one of the few players to gain any credit during a disappointing season for Villa. Newcastle then refused to sell the winger come midfielder and it wasn’t until 2008that a permanent transfer was completed. His versatility and work rate have ensured Milner is a key component in this Aston Villa side.

3. Gareth Barry: 1997 – 2009, 365 apps

Forget the way he left the club; remember the years he was there. An excellent passer of the ball, Barry’s great strength was his versatility which allowed him to play as a holding midfielder, attacking midfielder, or defender. Former club captain and youth graduate, he spent more than a decade with Villa. He is also seventh in the all-time list of appearances for the club.

2. Olof Mellberg: 2001 – 2008, 232 apps

A giant of a man and an excellent defender with some stunning facial growth. The big Swede signed from Racing Santander in 2001 and instantly became the rock the heart of the Villa defence for many years. His parting gift on his last game for Aston Villa, away to West Ham, he gave every single Villa fan at Upton Park either a home or an away shirt with his name and number on the back emblazoned with the message ‘Thanks 4 Your Support’.

1. Martin Laursen: 2004 – 2009, 91 apps.

An injury plagued career ensued at Villa, the £3 million signing from AC Milan in 2004, would prove to be key in Aston Villa’s chase for success. Initially, a frustrated figure, Laursen would soon prove himself as the number one defender at the club, an excellent scorer of goals and taking over the club captaincy from Barry in 2008, he was a natural leader. He was also voted the Supporters’ Player of the Year in 2008. Retiring from the game in May 2009, he gave an emotional speech at Aston Villa’s final game of the season at home to Newcastle United.

Do you agree with Martin Laursen as number one? Would you have Gareth Barry in the list given his exit from the club and does Paul Merson deserve to be on the list at all? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Well when your side is screaming out for a centre half, why not simply go out and sign a centre midfielder who’s lost his pace and has struggled with injuries for 3 seasons. Yes, Roberto Mancini seems to think that by signing a creaky Patrick Vieira, it’ll help shore up a leaky defence. 5 years ago, Viera was clearly one of the best centre midfielders in Europe, but his four years in Italy have seen his reputation decline.

Whilst certainly not past it by any stretch of the imagination, I cannot believe Vieira can cope with the pace of Premiership football any more. I know his move is motivated by being a regular starter for France, but he hasn’t started a competitive game for Les Blues since August 2007 and I do not see the benefit of disrupting the midfield pairing of Gareth Barry and Nigel De Jong.

It also sends a signal that the manager has no confidence in his midfield anchor men, when Manchester City’s back four have been far more culpable for their weaknesses this season. Barry and De Jong have been amongst City’s better performers this season, and for all the spin that has accompanied Mancini’s victories against Stoke City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Middlesbrough, it’s doubtful that City wouldn’t have won those games with Mark Hughes in charge.

It seems like City are entering that dimension that Real Madrid lived in where players are signed on reputation rather than ability and the wisdom in signing Vieira will become clearer over the next few weeks. The warning signs are there though with Vieira’s total appearances over the last 3 and a half seasons at Internazionale totals 72 games in all competitions. Italian football is not the high paced, frenetic standard of the Premiership and I don’t think Vieira will be able to cope.

By all means, Vieira was one of the stand out midfielders in world football during his spell at Arsenal, of that there is absolutely no doubt. Yet Wenger’s transfer policy of removing older players before they deteriorate at Arsenal has yet to blow up in his face. Remember everyone banging on about what a great pair of signings Adebayor and Toure were in the summer? They’ve strangely gone quiet already. Adebayor’s 6 goals this season and the leakiest defence in the Premierships top ten seem to once again back Wengers judgement.

Of course, the additional revenue that Vieira will bring through shirt sales will be the only thing that Gary Cook will be interested in. The ability the cover the wage package of apparently £140,000 a week won’t be overly important to the owners but surely the value has to be on the pitch. We’re not talking about a David Beckham icon here, we’re talking about a man who can’t get in the worse French team in 15 years. Vieira struggled to cope with the recovery period in his spell at Arsenal when he was at his prime, so I’ve no idea how he can cope with the demands it’ll put on him now.

Mourinho has been deploying him solely as a defensive midfielder, but he still tries to play his old role and gets caught out of position, he hasnt got the pace to get back and he lacks the tenacity to fly in to the tackles like he used to. He’s earned rave reviews for his last Inter performance against Chievo, but come on, it’s hardly the Milan derby is it. I just don’t see the wisdom of the signing, I just feel it’ll tarnish one of the best midfielders in Premiership history’s legacy and that would be a shame.

If I was an Arsenal fan, I’d be fed up already listening to people saying that Manchester City were obviously going to usurp them as one of the “Big Four” sides. It’s amazing what spending money does to peoples judgement when it comes to football and Manchester City have certainly caught more than their fair share of attention over the summer. To all intents and purposes, Manchester City will easily outstrip Arsenal on the pitch and leapfrog them in the Premiership.

So since last summer City have spent over £160 million pounds, but have they really bought the required players to turn them into a major force in the Premiership. In my honest opinion, no they haven’t. It’s easy to simply look at the figures they’ve spent and it all becomes an addiction to money rather than talent. For some, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson have suddenly lost the managerial skills they’ve earned over one summer due to players going to Manchester City.

How has Ferguson lost his abilities by not signing Carlos Tevez? Whilst the vocal United fans tried to convince Ferguson to sign him up, Ferguson would not be budged. He was quite right to question how a striker who only scored 5 goals in the Premiership was worth £25 million. He consistently failed to deliver in big games time and again, yet because he ran around like a dog chasing a rabbit, he was “world class”. It is such an over rated term, that is consistently trotted out all the time as to make it almost redundant. Would you honestly say he’s a better striker than Wayne Rooney? Really? Even the most blinkered City fan can surely see the stupidity of that comparison.

Not one of Manchester City’s new signings is World Class, that’s a fact. Not one of them. Honestly, seriously, none of them. With the exception of Gareth Barry, Shay Given and Wayne Bridge, there isn’t one player who would be at Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea. Adebayor, Toure and Tevez have all been let go because they aren’t good enough for a top 4 side. City had clean run at every one of the targets they’ve signed because the clubs that owned the players were happy to see them leave, Barry and Given apart.

Craig Bellamy, over rated, over paid and has never, ever delivered consistently. A temper that causes more problems than he’s worth, I witnessed one of his strops at Norwich. Refused a decision by the referee, little Craig stomped his feet and jumped up and down on the spot for almost a minute. Pathetic. I wonder how long it will be before he starts texting his team mates spiteful messages?

Roque Santa Cruz, so good that when he left Bayern Munich, he joined Blackburn, no offence Rovers fans. If every major club in Europe wasn’t interested, how has he become such a brilliant striker after one good season and then moping around for a year hoping for a move. In 8 years at Bayern, he scored 38 goals playing for one of the biggest sides in Europe and one that consistently challenged for trophies at home and in Europe. That’s a dreadful record for someone allegedly so good.

Robinho  joined Manchester City, then forgot who he’d signed for. Chelsea to be fair, wouldn’t pay over £27.5 million for him and by Christmas, they were probably glad they hadn’t. Another one touted as “world class”, laughably so if you’ve watched him regularly at Real Madrid. A good player, almost really good, but wildly inconsistent, prone to having hissy fits and a strike rate that doesn’t match the amount of chances he gets.

As for the two signings from Arsenal, Toure and Adebayor, Wenger must be laughing all the way the bank with his £40 million transfer kitty. He has, thanks to Manchester City, made a fortune from Arsenal’s two biggest troublemakers who were simply not at the races last season. If anything, Arsenal are stronger without spending a penny. The issues that those two caused in the dressing room and on the training ground had caused fractures through out  Wengers squad in the last two seasons. Arsenal are better without those two at the Emirates, no question.

Adebayor famously attacked a team mate during a match because he didn’t pass to him, Toure got his gang to ignore William Gallas because he couldn’t be captain. Once again, childish, immature and bringing tons of baggage with them.Good riddance, I don’t know one Arsenal fan who is sad to see them leave. Not one. That tells you everything you need to know about those two.

This rag tag bunch of egotistical, money driven mercenaries are now all nicely tied up on 4 and 5 year contracts, earning more money than they ever believed they possibly could. Do you really think they’ve come to win trophies or count their cash? All this talk of “ being excited by the project” makes me laugh, it’s jibberish. It’s all about the money, nothing more, nothing less.  Now somehow this team will be bonded and formed into one the best teams in England within weeks? It’s crazy to expect such results so soon.

How long before the cracks appear at Eastlands and the dressing room becomes a pit of ego clashes and cliques. If they’re not in the top 7 come Christmas, the pressure will be really on Mark Hughes. Rome was not built in a day and Manchester City could end up being more like Sodom and Gomorrah than the Eternal City next season. They will have all to do to keep up with Everton, Tottenham, Villa and Fulham, never mind crack the top 4 and worry Arsenal.

Say what you will about the obscene amount of money being spent by Manchester City this summer, but you have to admit that there’s a certain perverse pleasure in watching someone build a real-life club lineup in much the same way that most regular joes would create their starting XI in a video game.

Okay, let’s take West Brom out and put Sealand FC into the Premier League. I’ll build a giant floating stadium in the North Sea for them. Awesome. Let’s drop Kaká in the middle here, and David Villa up front with Jozy Altidore… ooh, gotta bump his numbers up a bit… Cool. Hey, let’s make a Kevin Garnett character and put him in goal. He seems like he could have been good at that…

Man City manager Mark Hughes hasn’t gone quite that crazy, of course, but at first glance, he appears to be making the same mistake most novice video gamers might make when building a team: loading up on strikers. At some point, a gamer realizes that Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Kun Aguero and an injury-free Michael Owen — who seems to exist only in computers and preseasons — can’t all play together at once. Someone has to win the ball and control it in the midfield.

Of course, Hughes hasn’t forgotten this. That’s why he spent £17M on Nigel de Jong in January and another £12M on Gareth Barry this summer. Still, Manchester City has thrown a whopping £129M at forwards since being taken over by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan last August, and the projected front line of Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez alone cost more than £82M.

Throw Stephen Ireland in with Barry, de Jong and that forward trio, however, and Hughes’ plan begins to come into focus. Man City is attempting to emulate FC Barcelona.

And why not? Barcelona used their 4-1-2-3 formation to shatter opponents and win a convincing triple last year, so it’s practically destined to become imitated widely. It’s entirely possible that Sheikh Mansour, like the rest of us, watched Barca break down Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League Final and asked Hughes to build a side exactly like that. He’s also put Hughes in the unique position to do that with just about any players he wants.

The parallels are obvious. Adebayor is the big striker in the middle, a la Samuel Eto’o, while Robinho and Tevez are set wide like Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi. Barry and Ireland are there to control the midfield like Xavi and Iniesta and feed the forwards, while de Jong sits back and provides cover like Yaya Toure. Sort out the central defense, and Sparky could find himself managing a contender.

Plenty of questions remain, though. For starters, can Hughes rotate his strikers enough to keep everyone happy? Craig Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz, Benjani, Valeri Bojinov, Felipe Caicedo and Ched Evans are all fighting for spots, too, and some of them won’t be satisfied playing just cup ties. Does Elano see any playing time in this midfield, which would suit his skills well, or is safe to assume he’ll be gone come August? And what happens to pure wingers like Shaun Wright-Phillips and Martin Petrov? Do they become square pegs in this triangular front six?

Ah, but that’s the fun thing about building a video game roster. When you’ve got the right players, you can experiment with just about any formation you want. Perhaps Hughes can revert back to the familiar 4-4-2 when the situation calls for it. It would be far more interesting, though, to see if that Barca-style 4-1-2-3 could succeed at Eastlands over a full season. In fact, I might just recreate that lineup myself in Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 this weekend and see how well it works.

The rumours first started in January that Manchester City were interested in landing John Terry, but nothing seemed too concrete and I, perhaps along with a lot of people, just dismissed it as paper talk.  Why on earth would Terry leave the Blues to take a risk on Manchester City. Now though, its official, City are chasing Terry and they’ve made two offers.

Friday’s offer of £30 million plus the agreement to pull out of the arbitration process over Daniel Sturridge’s compensation certainly raised eyebrows, but Terry has been very quiet. Whilst the club and new manager, Carlo Ancelotti have both stated that Terry isn’t for sale, it just strikes me as odd that they’ve decided to make it public knowledge. If someone comes in for your club captain, you reject it out of hand and leave it at that don’t you?

Are Chelsea laying the ground for Terry’s exit by allowing the bid to come out in to the public domain? By playing to the fans in this way, saying that they don’t want him to go, it seems designed to get Terry to commit to the club publicly. Surely Terry wouldn’t forgo Champions League football for £300,000 a week would he?

If I’m honest, I wouldn’t be that surprised if Terry does request a transfer. After seeing Kaka state at 10am that he was sick of the speculation of him leaving AC Milan and he wasn’t going anywhere, then 6 hours later agreeing terms with Real Madrid, nothing would shock me this summer. Apparently Terry hasn’t closed the door on Manchester City, but then again maybe he’s using that as a leverage tool to renegotiate his contract.

He’s currently on around £140,000 a week at Chelsea and knows he could at least double that if he did join Mark Hughes outfit. At 28, he’s hardly over the hill but City would offer him at least a 5 year contract worth a total of £75 million if he were to join them. That is a frightening amount of money in anyone’s book and perhaps that’s why Terry has yet to come out and state his intention to stay at Chelsea.  Would an increased bid of £40 million see Chelsea let him go?

The crucial factor here is the fans response and Terry will have noted the ridicule and insults that Gareth Barry has had to suffer since he agreed to leave Aston Villa to move to Manchester City.  Barry’s comments from last summer, when he stated that he wanted to leave purely for Champions League football, became an empty gesture when he went to Manchester City in June. Of course, football fans and commentators forget that in the real world when someone offers you twice the money you earn to do the same job somewhere else, you bite their hands off.

The emotional attachment that we all have as fans blinds us to reality sometimes, we love the clubs we support and don’t understand it when we see players we feel don’t share the emotional attachment. Terry has already crossed the line once in his career, walking out on his boyhood team, West Ham, to join Chelsea as a fourteen year old, so emotional attachment is not too strong a tie for him. He may be club captain but is he a Chelsea fan or a professional footballer?