Mancini defends claim that £250m squad lacks depth

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has defended his call for further investment in his squad.

After spending around £250 million on new players since his arrival two years ago, Mancini attracted scorn on Friday when he claimed City would struggle to fill their substitutes’ bench for the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.

As it turned out, City did come up with seven replacements, although they included Abdul Razak and Denis Suarez, who have just six first-team appearances between them, all but two from the bench. Things may be even worse for tonight’s Carling Cup semi-final first-leg encounter with Liverpool.

Star man David Silva is a doubt, in addition to Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko.

And although Gareth Barry does return from suspension, skipper Vincent Kompany is starting a four-match suspension after the FA rejected his appeal against the red card he received against United on Sunday.

At a time when resources are already depleted due to the absences of Yaya and Kolo Toure on African Nations Cup duty with the Ivory Coast, the situation has led to Mancini raising the possibility of 17-year-old Dutchman Karim Rekik being involved.

Which just goes to prove City’s squad is not quite as deep as some people imagine.

“All the people think we have a lot of players,” said Mancini.

“But we have 19, plus keepers. It is not a big squad. If we are unlucky and we have three or four players injured, like at this moment, we can have a problem. The club knows this.”

The spectre of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations being invoked means Mancini may have to sell before he can bring anyone else in. Yet the Italian claims there has, so far, been no movement on the potential departures of Nedum Onuoha and Wayne Bridge, who is likely to be on the radar of new QPR manager Mark Hughes.

And, whilst Carlos Tevez is now being courted by both Milan clubs, at present there is no deal. “I said four weeks ago that December and January would be crucial months,” said Mancini. “Until three weeks ago we didn’t have any injuries. Now, we have a problem.”

Stefan Savic, the 21-year-old Montenegran, will start just his second match, partnering Joleon Lescott in central defence.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish, meanwhile, does not think last week’s defeat to City will have any bearing on the two-legged semi-final. The Reds return to the Etihad Stadium just eight days after they departed having lost 3-0 in the Premier League with a performance which was characterised by individual errors.

“We lost 3-0 and so we will look at it but I don’t think it will be a reflection on the next two games coming up [against City],” said Dalglish, who is expected to start with skipper Steven Gerrard in the heart of midfield.