From Berti to Tevz and Everything in Between

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Last time I blogged, City still had Darius Va sell, Danny Mills and lest we forget, Glauber Leandro Honorato Berti. Quite a bit has happened since then!!Im sure that many of my, ahem, thousands of adoring fans noticed a lack of blogging updates from here, so I apologise if you were left traumatised and feeling upsetby this. Having been away for a couple of weeks representing my country in a worldwide sporting competition, I felt that blogging perhaps should take a back seat, so although the quantity of articles decreased, I sincerely hope that the quality in future efforts remains of a high standard. Just as a fore-warning me sage, due to school commitments, I plan on doing maybe only one or two articles per month, as opposed to my previous amount, which was rather higher and certainly more time consuming.Anyway, where were we? Oh yes, still talking about Berti! How times have changed during this pre-season, the first full summer transfer window where City have had the opportunity to make full use of Sheikh Mansours many billions. At the time of writing, there have been a total of seven new arrivals at Eastlands, andabout thirteen departures. Those seven include world-cla s stars such as Carlos Tevz and Emmanuel Adebadhairday, but also the likes of Nils Zander, an extremelypromising young left-back, signed form German side FC Schalke.From Berti to Tevz  A sign of the changing timesAny new season brings about certain levels of excitement, but there can surely nothave been many other campaigns which have generated both the publicity and fervour that has accompanied the 2009/10 pre-season. Hopes are higher than ever before  Brandon Morrow Jersey that the Blues can break into the top four and unsettle the hierarchy of English football that has developedin recent years. Many City supporters, myself included, would be more than contentwith a top five finish, and that would signal a major achievement for the Blues. Disappointingly, our attempts to break into the upper echelons of the Premier League, something that has eluded the grasp of Tottenham, Evertonand Aston Villa in recent years, have been met with a wall of criticism, and in many cases, hypocrisy. The so called experts of the game have declared that City are ruining world football by signing the likes of Gareth Barry for 12 million. Nothing has been made of the fact that Spanish giants Real Madrid  Chicago Cubs Jersey spent 80 million, almost seven times Citys amount, on Cristiano Ronaldo, whilst also breaking the world record for Kak. In addition to this, they spent over 30 million to acquire the services of former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso. Despite his undoubted qualities, is the Spaniard really worth two and a half times as much as Barry?Enough of my personal grievances, I now move onto news of Citys pre-season form. Summed up in one word, it could be described as typical! Before the game at home to Celtic, a match which saw the return of goalscoring sensation Georgios Samaras (that just shows how bad the Scottish League is), the Blues had played five games and recorded just a solitary victory. However, defeats to the Kaiser Chiefs and Rangers among others have failed to dampen our enthusiasm for the forthcoming season, but it would have been nice to see some goals and victories. By all accounts, we have performed well without getting the end results, but Im fairly confident that Mark Hughes and his fellow coaching staff will sort things out before the season opener away at his former clubBlackburn.Samaras returned to face City, whilst the Blues were beaten by the Kaiser ChiefsTalking of that encounter, Citys trip to Ewood Park will be a fantastic early test of the Blues credentials. Will our team, a combination of skillful and talented players, the likes of Robinho and Stephen Ireland, and experienced and reliablecampaigners, such as Gareth Barry and Kolo Tour, be able to pull together and attain the three points? With this fixture being followed by a home tie against newly-promoted Wolves, City should be able to string together a couple of early wins and silence those doubters who believe that the Blues, as so often in the past, will fall by the wayside as our expensively a sembled squad fails to gel together.Generally, Im delighted withthenature of the squad that Hughes has built. There is depth in every department, and real quality at Joe Maddon Jersey  that. Lets take the striking department for example. If we imagine that Hughess first choice pairing is Adebuyonegetonefree and Tevz, then we still have two internationals, Roque Santa Cruz and Craig Bellamy in reserve. I challenge you to name any other Premier League sidethat has such quality in depth, and at that, such variety and choice. Having already considered this proposal, I would be mightily shocked of anyone was to come up with, and with reason, any group of forwards that can match or even better those at City.WithBellamy and Santa Cruz in reserve, City are a force to be reckoned withFor all the talk that City have been signing players by the bucketload and ruining world football, the truth is actually far from the rumours. Any club that has aspirations of challenging for titles has had to spend ma ses of money in the proce s, so what City are doing is nothing unusual. Perhaps people are concerned and worried by our efforts, something that has clearly affected Sir Alex Ferguson. Remember his rant at the blue half of Manchester? The le s thanplacid-natured Scotsman described City as a small club witha small mentality. On the face of it, we should be concerned withsuch a description, but actually, this rant by Ferguson merely highlights Citys growing impact in football. Ferguson only ever has a go at clubs which are a threat to Manchester United. His public warnings and confrontations with Arsene Wenger, Rafael Benitez and Jos Mourinho highlight this fact Jason Heyward Jersey , so Mark Hughes should feel proud that Fegie now cla ses us as a threat. The Scot never has a rant at the likes ofFulham, Middlesborough or Bolton, so it should come as a pleasant surprise that he even thought about City.Anyway, enough of angry Scotsmen and back to our new signings. Stuart Taylor was acquired from Aston Villa for nothing and will be an experienced back-up in net for Shay Given. I believe that this is a shrewd move from Hughes who has let youngster Joe Hart find regular first team football on loan at Birmingham. In defence, City have made two additions, Kolo Tour and Nils Zander. The latter is a promising left-back whilst the former is a dependable and proven centre-back, who joined from Arsenal for close to 15 million. Tour is likely to slot straight into the City defence to partner Nedum Onuoha and will add solidity and know-how to the back four.Tour joins City and will hope to form a solid partnership with Nedum OnuohaIn midfield, Mark Hughes has added the undoubted qualities of England international Gareth Barry, a snip at just 12 million. Capable of playing in central midfield, on the left wing or at left back, Barry will add experience andgenuine qualityto the City midfield. Already, in pre-season, he has linked up well with both Stephen Ireland and Nigel de Jong so things are looking bright for the Blues in the midfield department.However, it is in the forward region where most of the action and excitement has centred. Three proven, talented and ambitious strikers signed in the summer, namely Carlos Tevz, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz. With the former two joining from clubs higher up in the table than us, it represents a major coup for City that we can attract players of such a high calibre. The pursuit of Santa Cruz was a particularly drawn out one, starting last summer and ending when Mark Hughes finally snapped up his number one target. Formerly of Blackburn and Bayern Munich, the Paraguayan striker will add some much needed height to the forward line, and he will hope to remain injury free to secure his place in the side.Watching these two next season should be fun!Adebayor, scorer of 46 goals in 104 appearance at his former club Arsenal, will also add height and presence to the striking department. Capable of playing as a lone man, the Togo forward signed for about 25 million and chose the Blues over other footballing luminaries such as Inter Milan and Barcelona. He po se ses a great first touch and fantastic close control, and those qualities, combined to his aerial ability, will hopefully leadto him scoring many goals this season. In all likelihood, he will be joined up-front by another player whose transfer was protracted to say the least. Ladies-manCarlos Tevz, whose real name is actually Carlos Alberto Martnez,signed from Manchester United after his two year  Sammy Sosa Jersey loan deal came to a conclusion. Despite the side from Singapore offering him a new contract, he plumped to join the Blues, citing their ambition anddetermination. His willingne s to work