Trophies the true test of greatness, Mancini tells City

Martinez said: “What measures you as a good or a bad team is achieving things and winning titles. What Manchester City has done has been phenomenal. I know money has been important but to get a team out of the individuals is where the difficulty lies.

“They can win any competition they go into and they have done a remarkable job, but only time will tell how good they can be. Barcelona probably five years ago were in a similar situation, showing good signs. But you can only be measured as a great side when you win titles and that’s probably the exciting times ahead for Manchester City.”

Martinez said City are now reaping the rewards of Roberto Mancini’s long-term planning, with the Italian first having made the side difficult to beat, before turning them into a dominant attacking force. He added: “Roberto Mancini had a massive impact as soon as he arrived. He knew the Premier League through his spell at Leicester and he had achieved huge things in Italy. He’s a special manager from a tactical point of view and he’s someone who has always had the long-term planning of what he wanted at Manchester City.

“They were a very solid team, very hard to break down at the beginning, and then he added the attacking options. It’s fascinating to see how he had that structured plan in his head and how he has developed that.”

Martinez has midfielder Mohamed Diame absent on African Nations Cup duty with Senegal, but winger Albert Crusat is back in contention tonight after a couple of weeks out with a back injury. With City skipper Vincent Kompany serving the second game of his four-match ban and Kolo Toure on African Nations Cup duty with the Ivory Coast, 21-year-old Montenegro international Stefan Savic is set to continue in central defence for the visitors.