Mancini wants summer of spending
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini hopes to be allowed to spend big this summer in pursuit of further success.
Mancini wants to add the Champions League to this season’s Barclays Premier League title victory.
City have spent heavily since their takeover by Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour in 2008 to establish a
position of prominence in the English game.
Chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak has said there is now no need to spend the lavish sums of previous summers, because the squad is already strong, but Mancini still wants more top names.
Mancini told BBC Sport: “Barcelona and Real Madrid every year buy two or three players and spend a lot of money.
“I think for Manchester City it will be the same.
“We need to improve. We need to have the strength to play Champions League and Premier League.”
Mancini will also focus on the current squad, with speculation still likely to surround the controversial figures of Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli.
Tevez was widely expected to leave in the summer after failing in his attempts to engineer a move during the January transfer window.
Yet after returning to the club following his infamous self-imposed exile in Argentina to play a key role in the run-in, the apparently reintegrated 28-year-old has said he wants to stay.
Their dispute now over, Mancini said: “It’s not difficult to manage Tevez. He’s a good guy. We had a good relationship always.
“I don’t know why we had that situation in September but in the end he’s a good guy and a fantastic player.”
Mancini wants to keep Balotelli despite creating headlines for misdemeanours on and off the field during the season.
Mancini said he would “probably” try to sell his fellow Italian after his sending-off at Arsenal last month but the pair are now reconciled.
The City manager told Gazzetta dello Sport: “Mario has been very clear and I reiterate: Balotelli will remain at Manchester 101%.
“I am confident he will have a great European Championship.
“I hope Mario will be the leader of the national team because he is the best Italian striker.
“He just needs to make his brain work. That is his only problem.”
It has been reported that Mancini will be rewarded for overseeing City’s first league win in 44 years with a new contract, but he says the situation has not yet been discussed with the sheikh.
The 47-year-old, who took charge at the Etihad Stadium in December 2009, said: “He sent me a message of congratulations, he was happy.
“We haven’t spoken about a new contract but I am very happy to work here.
“The basis is here to start a cycle.”
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