Mancini defends City's spending spree

Mancini – who is closing in on deals for James Milner and Mario Balotelli – has already spent £76m bringing David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng to City.

The United boss, meanwhile, has spent significantly less on recruiting Javier Hernandez and Chris Smalling, arguing that there were few other options worth their price tag.

But Mancini has no doubts that all four of his new-boys will play a significant part in City’s push to overhaul United this season.
“I think that United have spent a lot of money on players in the past,” Mancini said. “Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool have done the same.

“We have spent money on good young players, and I am happy with what we have done in the market.” And he is also hopeful that Milner will arrive soon from Aston Villa, although he acknowledged that a deal to sign Balotelli from Inter Milan may take longer.
“We are still speaking with both players – Balotelli and Milner. And I am hopeful on both. Which deal is closest? Probably Milner. Probably.

“We are speaking to Inter, and we will do so again in the coming days. We have time to do a deal, and we want to make sure that we buy Balotelli for the right price.”
 

Mancini joked that he will have no problem working with the volatile Balotelli, because he is used to working with fiery players at City.
“I worked with Bellamy and Tevez,” he laughed. “Working with Balotelli is easy!”
Mancini will discuss Robinho’s future when the playmaker returns from duty with Brazil next week.