Transfer Rumour: Manchester City Linked to Saul Niguez

It is almost as though the newspapers have forgotten they said we were facing a transfer ban.

Manchester City have been linked today to the Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez as a replacement for the increasingly aged Brazilian star Fernandinho. The stories have gone so far as to suggest the deal is almost done, with a fee agreed and probably even talk about the fact he is choosing kitchen utensils for his new flat in Beswick. Ikea no doubt.

There is no doubting that Niguez would be an interesting signing for City. He is an accomplished midfielder with a fine pedigree at a high level.  He has played 36 games so far this season, scoring 5 and assisting 3 goals as a deep lying midfielder. At just 24 years of age he presents as a player who can improve his potential under good coaching.

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The thing is Barcelona have been long linked with buying him and everyone has assumed this was a done deal and that in the summer he would be announced. Matters have intensified in recent weeks given some pressing financial concerns for Atletico. Atletico have a number of superstars in their ranks and have paid some high wages to retain these players. They now also have a shiny new stadium which has cost much more than originally envisaged and it is thought they will seek to offload some players to try and balance the books.

And then all of a sudden the Spanish press are linking him to City. Whilst I believe he would in fact be an excellent addition to our squad I still think the whole saga and story seems riddled with desperate attempts by Atletico to try and boost the price. Suddenly the battle has gone from a one horse race with Barcelona to two. And that of course will do no harm to the asking price and may inflate the fee associated with the player. It is also the oldest trick in the book.

Whether there is any real interest from City may depend upon FIFA and their announced investigation into irregularities in the signing of young players by Manchester City. Whilst similar enquiries have resulted in transfer bans for Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea it may be prudent to expect a similar sanction at City. The question is when such a punishment would be inflicted because it could render our transfer policy dormant for a couple of seasons. Quite simply there would be little point in having a scouting department at all.

Of course being linked to the player may actually alert City to his availability so maybe you never really know what is going on in the murky world of player transfers.