80m pounds

Nearly 80 million pounds has been spent bringing in David Silva (Valencia), Yaya Toure (Barcelona), Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio) and Jerome Boateng (Hamburg) and there is the prospect of another 50 million-plus going if targets James Milner (Aston Villa) and Mario Balotelli (Inter Milan) are secured before the end of the transfer window. The influx of new talent is bound to leave some of the players at Eastlands out in the cold, particularly as this season sees the Premier League introduce a new rule limiting the size of squads to 25 players.

Clubs must submit their list by September 1 and eight of those players must be “home grown”, that is having come through the youth system in England or Wales. The aim is to encourage clubs to develop their own young players rather than fill their squad full of expensive foreign imports, something City seem intent on doing. Wales striker Craig Bellamy, who has been linked with a loan move to Celtic, is one of several City players who fear their future may lie elsewhere. “I feel strongly that I can offer something at the club,” the 31-year-old said. “But if I don’t get in the 25-man squad, I don’t know what I will do. I might finish, full stop, or look at every option I get.”