Claudio Lotito:

“Garrido is a Lazio player. He was our first choice to replace Kolarov.” (after deals for Luca Antonelli and Nadir Belhadj failed to materialise)

This quick deal is particularly good for City as it’s a step in getting the senior squad down to 25. There’s been a lot of talk about clubs looking to take advantage of our situation by snapping up the likes of Craig Bellamy for bargain prices. The closer our squad is to 25, the stronger our negotiating hand becomes when dealing with buying clubs.

The anticipated signing of Mario Balotelli remains anticipated. Everyone expects a deal to be concluded eventually, but nobody knows when – except maybe Mino Raiola, the agent of Balotelli.

When Balotelli acquired the services of Raiola in March, Inter feared that the teenager would soon be on the move. The agent had previously overseen the transfers of Maxwell and Ibrahimovic to Barca. With the Ibra deal being one of the most extravagent on record it should come as no surprise that Raiola is trying to extract as much as possible out of City.

After reports that Raiola has returned to Italy following talks in Manchester yesterday, there’s an interesting piece on FC Inter News. They report that City are balking at paying an extra 800,000 euros a year demanded by Raiola and he’s returned to Inter to ask if they can reduce the fee City will pay, with the money instead going to the player/agent.

This would explain the agent returning to Italy to conclude the deal. Raiola claims of Balotelli:

“He’s calm but anxious to come to an agreement, that’s normal for a lad of 19. We’re working and we’re hoping.”

Well if anyone can help relieve Mario’s anxiety, it’s probably you Mino.

After Yaya Toure’s agent, Dimitri Seluk dragging out his signing for the maximum financial gain, and Lazio’s president doing likewise with Kolarov, it looks like City are in the same situation again. The deal was expected to be concluded by the time City play Inter on Saturday night. Raiola may have other ideas.

Elsewhere, Daniel Taylor of The Guardian tweets on Roque Santa Cruz:

Two inquiries for Roque Santa Cruz so far: Stoke, as my @guardian_sport colleague Stuart James revealed this week, and Fenerbahce #MCFC

First we find Jo linked with Blackburn. Big Sam likes a big striker, but Jo is hardly your archetypal target man. Maybe Allardyce believes he can shape Jo’s potential into something more solid and suitable for the Premier League. One thing’s for sure, the shrewd Allardyce won’t be paying the kind of sums Blackburn charged us for Roque Santa Cruz.

The possibility of Jo heading to Real Sociedad is resurrected in El Mundo. Spain may suit Jo better than Lancashire. In the meantime he can continue leading our attack in pre-season.

Santa Cruz himself could be the subject of an offer by Stoke as Tony Pulis looks for a striker to replace those he’s fallen out with (James Beattie and Dave Kitson). Roque’s certainly tall enough to qualify for a Tony Pulis striker, but whether our Paraguayan is sufficiently enticed by the Britannia Stadium remains to be seen. Marseille could be another option.

Mario Balotelli looks increasingly likely to be our next incoming striker. Inter president Massimo Moratti is laying the groundwork for the player leaving, with a deal possibly concluded when the two clubs meet in America.

Massimo Moratti:

“Balotelli remains a great talent, but for us it’s almost an obligation to let him go.”

The difference of opinion between City and Villa on James Milner’s value looks like holding that deal up for a while yet, with Martin O’Neill unsurprisingly saying he’d be happy for Milner to stay.

However our problems with Villa are minor compared to those with Wolfsburg when it comes to Edin Dzeko. It’s being reported that City have given up on signing the Bosnian striker and are looking elsewhere. Our hopes of signing the player for around £25m seem negligible and maybe we should have taken the buy-out price of £33m when we had the chance.

The one piece of good news is Juventus look like signing Milos Krasic, which means they will unable to sign Dzeko.

Balotelli is no alternative to Dzeko and it will be interesting to see if we can manufacture a deal for Ibrahimovic if the Bosnian isn’t coming. The Barca striker would hardly be a cheap alternative.

Stephen Ireland:

“I have read about supposed interest but I have not heard anything directly. Ideally I would like to stay here and build a future here. I am not going to rush into anything. I think it is best if I see what happens during the first half of the season.”

Hopefully there will be a place for Ireland in the 25 man squad, though it may need a quick upturn in form to fully convince Mancini. If Milner joins Silva and Balotelli is seen as someone who can play the flanks, then it becomes difficult to see places for both Bellamy and Ireland in the squad.

Mancini has confirmed Robinho doesn’t want to return, and it will be interesting to see what happens with the Brazilian. Could a deal for Ibrahimovic still be on the cards? Christian Larrson claims the Swede has unofficially been put up for sale by Barca.

Roberto Mancini:

“I don’t know about Robinho’s situation because he doesn’t want to come back.”

With the majority of signings having been made, attention is starting to turn to the 25 man squad. Mancini spelled this out, in case it wasn’t clear enough to any of our fringe players.

Roberto Mancini:

“I have now, with all the new signings, 30 players. It is important that we get to the start of the season with only 25 players because that is the number of names we can put on the list.

“It is better for me and the other players who are not on the list that they go to another team. I think it is better for the extra that they go rather than staying and not playing. That would be a big problem, for the players and for us.”

Roberto Mancini:

“Torres is one of the best strikers in Europe and is already playing in the Premier League for three years and knows it very well. But it depends on his situation – his price and whether he wants to come.

The price Liverpool would ask, and whether Torres would move to a non-Champions League side still make this transfer highly unlikely. Maybe Mancini is just reminding Inter Milan and Wolfsburg that we have other irons in the fire while we try to negotiate a better price for Balotelli and Dzeko.

Once again we have reports from Italy that City have agreed a deal for Balotelli and the transfer is looking closer. The Mirror claim his agent has agreed a four year deal worth £65k per week, and Balotelli had a leaving party at the weekend to celebrate. Elsewhere the deal is said to be 4 million euros a year  for five years. Football Italia claims the initial fee is 30 million euros.

Mario is certainly leaving Milan to go on Inter’s pre-season tour of America. The big question is whether he will still be their player when City play the Italian champions at the weekend.

Roberto Mancini on Balotelli:

“He is one of the four or five strikers that interest us. I was the first to believe in him and I’m convinced about what he can do.”

“Mario has two qualities that suit us, his talent and his age.”

James Milner is due back for pre-season training at Villa today. This could be the tipping-point where City have their much anticipated £24m offer officially accepted. The only thing likely to prevent a deal is Villa digging their heals in for £30m. Martin O’Neill is capable of this as Gareth Barry can testify when Liverpool rubbed him up the wrong way in their attempts to sign the England midfielder.

Roberto Mancini on Milner:

“He is still a player who interests us but only at the right price.”

Unfortunately City now have to deal with Mino Raiola, the agent for Balotelli (and Ibrahimovic), who is not considered the easiest to negotiate with. Football Italia claims he hopes to “flush out other interested parties” such as Chelsea or United. In other words he’s looking to maximise the money City have to pay. According to Football Italia this is a five year contract worth 4.5 million euros per season. Hopefully a contract will be agreed and the transfer can go ahead.

All is currently quiet with Aleksandar Kolarov. Italian media reported he was having a medical. The next we hear will hopefully be an announcement of his signing on the official site.

Elsewhere, City are still believed to be intereseted in Maicon, but whether it comes off is questionable.

Christian Larrson:

City still pushing for Maicon, but player would like to go to Madrid not Manchester,but Madrid not playing ball.

Mourinho may well want Maicon, but do Real need him when they already have Sergio Ramos?

If the deal for James Milner stalls, then the Mirror claim we will turn to Benfica’s Ramires. The 23 year old Brazilian looked ok during the World Cup, but doesn’t have the crossing ability of Milner. This is a ‘Mirror Exclusive’ which could mean no-one else believes it. More likely is a deal with Milner will be concluded once he returns from holiday.

Steve McLaren has reportedly failed in a bid to take Craig Bellamy on a one year loan to Wolfsburg. It’s hard to see any deal with Wolfsburg not being related to Edin Dzeko. Also, Bellers has previously stated he doesn’t see himself playing outside the UK at his age.

Unlike our other Summer signings, Kolarov is not a clear A-list player and it will be interesting to see how he fares. His thunderous shot may look good on YouTube, but a couple of mediocre perforamances for Serbia in the World Cup saw him dropped for the final group game.

Jose Mourinho is reportedly a fan and was thought to be set to sign him. Real balked at the valuation of the Lazio chairman and City look to have signed him for a compromise fee.

Opta stat for Kolarov: He attempted 99 shots in Serie A last season, the most for any defender.

It is the fashion to have attacking full-backs, particularly with a formation that has two holding midfielders, as City have tended to under Mancini. At 6′ 1″ he will provide height and an additional physical presence to a defence that could line up with Boateng – Kompany – Lescott – Kolarov.

Mancini appears to have learnt from his struggles against Stoke last season. Of the players we’ve signed, only David Silva is under 6 feet tall.

Meanwhile in Milan, negotiations appear to be ongoing for Mario Balotelli. There was an interesting couple of tweets from Christian Larrson last night, who believed a deal is being agreed.

FreddieBoswell7:

@CTID29 Today. Fee is now agreed with inter, but you now have to deal with Mino Raiola his agent & he’s a total nightmare.

FreddieBoswell7:

@CTID29 £26 million with 7 million add ons.

This sounds feasible as any deal with Balotelli is likely to include a host of performance related payments. Given the gamble we’re taking in signing the teenager this is wise on City’s part. It also enables Inter to get their astronomical valuation if he fulfills his potential – something he’s unlikely to do under Rafa Benitez if Ryan Babel is anything to go by.

The club look to be trying to get the bulk of the incoming transfers done in time for the new players to take part in the pre-season games. This is an ideal scenario for any manager, and Mancini should consider himself fortunate to have so many new players in this early. No other club is even close to matching our activity.

One player who won’t be joining is Didier Drogba. One of his ‘advisors’ claimed City are still interested in the 32 year old striker.

Thierno Seydi:

“Today, he is at Chelsea but there might be some surprises before August 31.”

“The only direct contact I had was with Manchester City.”

To which City’s Vicky Gloss gave short shrift:

“We can categorically state we have no interest in signing Didier Drogba and any suggestion of an approach is entirely without foundation.”

• What do you think of Aleksandar Kolarov?

Il Corriere dello Sport say the 19-year-old will train today, but wouldn’t be against a move. They’re under the impression that negotiations are set to continue with City willing to up their initial offer.

Reports that City have offered Robinho to Inter are intriguing, as he could be a makeweight in a deal for Maicon rather than Balotelli. If Robinho didn’t like the discipline of playing in a Mark Hughes team, then it’s hard to imagine him being happy with Rafa Benitez. Likewise it’s hard to imagine Rafa enthusing over Robi’s free-spirited approach to the game.

If the arrival of Balotelli were to signal the departure of Robinho, then there’s the valid question of whether we would simply be swapping one talented malcontent for another. The difference being that Mancini feels he can work with his countryman and get the best out of him.

Aleksandar Kolarov remains the player likeliest to be our next signing, with talk of City having given Lazio a deadline for an 18m euro offer.

The Lazio manager Edy Reja has even come out and said he wants the situation resolved soon. It looks like everyone’s waiting on the Lazio president.

According to The Mirror, Roberto Mancini is set to add another Italian to his backroom staff in the form of Christian Lattanzio. Currently working for West Ham, he’s set to join our scouting department.

There is a little jumping the gun here as confirmation has yet to come from either club and the player has still to agree to come to us. Previously Kolarov had been tipped to join Mourinho at first Inter then Real Madrid.

Apparently Madrid had an offer rejected and there’s recently been an increase in speculation linking them with Ashley Cole. Over at Inter, new manager Rafa Benitez is likely to have his own ideas on who to sign, and wouldn’t necessarily go for Kolarov. This should put us in a strong position to seal the deal.

The English press are now casting doubts over the future of Wayne Bridge. They seem to forget City’s stated aim is to have two quality players for each position, and we could be playing over 60 games next season. When Chelsea signed Yuri Zhirkov it didn’t mean the end for Ashley Cole.

Apparently Mancini has spoken today about the need for rotation next season and the players will need to get used to it. Let’s hope the elements of the press prone to idle speculation were listening.

Javier Garrido is the player most likely to make way for Kolarov. Wayne Bridge should be worried if we sign David Luiz.

According to Il Corriere dello Sport, Brian Marwood is in Milan and leading negotiations for Mario Balotelli. They claim an offer of 25 million euros has been made, with an additional 5 million if future targets are reached.

The smooth talking Inter president Massimo Moratti has turned this down, citing interest from United and a claimed desire for 35 million euros. There’s a lot of doubt as to whether United would pay this much. Quite possibly negotiations will continue today and a price can be agreed.

Whether the raw talent and tempestuous temperament of Balotelli warrants such a sum is open to question. For that price a proven, reliable goalscorer might be expected. Still, it would be great to see if Mancini can get the best out of the player.

Balotelli could be seen as the manager’s pet signing in the same way as Hughes had Santa Cruz. One where the board put doubts aside to back the manager.

One final piece on Goal, quotes Maicon’s agent as saying City have made contact regarding the Brazilian right-back. The source – TMW – doesn’t come across as hugely reliable.

Away from the transfer news, one player determined to be in the starting eleven next season appears to be Joe Hart. The Mail claim he is cutting short his holiday to join up with pre-season training and make an impression on Roberto Mancini.

With Boateng and Zabaleta, there will be considerable competition for Micah at right-back. What we don’t have is a genuine attacking right-back and there’s been plenty of speculation that Mancini wants to bring in either Maicon or Dani Alves.

Both of these are highly unlikely to join a club not in the Champions League, so maybe the manager has decided to keep faith with Micah. Gregory van der Wiel of Ajax has been touted as an alternative, but question marks remain about his defending.

Using Richards to fulfill our home-grown contingent has been suggested, but this would offer little satisfaction to the player. He’d be bound to leave in search of first team football eventually. At least we can follow his US diary for a while yet!

Rory Smith in The Telegraph believes we could be back in for Mikel Arteta if we we can’t agree a fee for Milner. Arteta has undoubted quality, but lacks Milner’s engine and could be to similar to Silva. A deal for the Villa player still looks the more likely outcome, and would save us having to negotiate with David Moyes.

The Express, among others, finally pick up on the fact that paying Craig Bellamy’s wages (they claim £90k per week) may not be hugely attractive to Tottenham. Harry Redknapp may like the player, but will Daniel Levy cough up that much for someone the wrong side of 30, with a history of knee problems that prevent him from playing twice a week?

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has dismissed reports the club are after Edin Dzeko. Galliani is hardly known for his honesty in these matters, but it’s to be hoped he’s telling the truth here.

Also in Italy, the Lazio president is still trying to auction off Aleksandar Kolarov, this time dropping Juve’s name into the mix. It remains to be seen whether City can get the price of Kolarov, Dzeko and Milner down to a sum we’re willing to pay.

There’s been talk for a while of Shakhtar Donetsk’s billionaire owner, Rinat Akhmetov, financing a major signing. The Mail has none other than Robinho as one of the targets. If he doesn’t like Manchester, then it’s even harder to see our Robi going for life in Ukraine, especially if he asks Elano for a reference.

Finally, Ryan McGivern is being tipped for a loan spell at Oldham. With Paul Dickov as their manager, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him using his City connections to borrow a few of our youngsters.