Manchester City Transfers: 6 Potential Replacements for Carlos Tevez

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The January transfer window is just one week away from slamming shut, and Manchester City are get to open the Etihad gates for any new arrivals. 

With Carlos Tevez seemingly on his way to Milan and Mario Balotelli facing a potential four-match ban, the Blues will be down to just two senior strikers. 

Will Roberto Mancini dip into the market, or is the era of big-spending over in Manchester?

Should he choose to spend, here are six replacements for the departing Tevez.

Alessio Cerci

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A long-standing target of Roberto Mancini, Alessio Cerci remains the most likely of the players linked to Manchester City, provided a loan deal could be struck.

The wideman would afford the City manager greater variety in attacking options, with Adam Johnson currently providing the only natural width from the forward players. Fiorentina coach Delio Rossi has confirmed that the volatile Italian will be allowed to leave the Viola.

"Cerci is a wide attacker with certain characteristics, so he has been penalised by our change to a 3-5-2 system," said Rossi.

"If he gets the chance, it's best he go express himself elsewhere, otherwise he'll have to stay in Florence and try to adapt."

Junior Hoilett

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Out of contract in the summer—and therefore hot property in the January transfer window—Junior Hoilett has attracted the attention of many Premier League clubs with his impressive performances for Blackburn Rovers.

The talented Canadian forward perfectly fits the bill for City's No. 4 striker—he's young, versatile and unlikely to cause a fuss when rotated.

Wilfried Zaha

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Impressing for Dougie Freedman's Crystal Palace in The Championship, Wilfried Zaha particularly caught the eye in the Eagles' impressive Carling Cup victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Despite signing a new contract in late December, doubts remain over his long-term future at the club. Many believe that the extended contract was merely a means to ensure premium profit for the England U19 star.

Jeroen Lumu

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City are chasing the Willem II striker Jeroen Lumu, according to the Dutch magazine Voetball International.

The 16-year-old striker scored against PSV Eindhoven last week and is also being courted by Serie A league leaders Juventus.

No One

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By far the most likely replacement for Carlos Tevez is no one.

Duncan Castles of the Abu Dhabi media company's The National wrote today that no money will be available for Roberto Mancini in this transfer window.

With the quickly incoming financial fair play regulations, it seems that the more fanciful names being linked to the Etihad Stadium are based on the club's heightened expenditure in previous windows rather than current conditions.

Keisuke Honda

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Speaking of fanciful names...

Lazio seem to have hit a snag in securing the signature of Keisuke Honda, with the Japanese international's club CSKA Moscow holding out for a fee thought to be in the €16 million mark.

Lazio's reported loan fee of €2 million euros and a buyout clause of €10 million is seemingly not enough for the Russian giants. It would be a departure from Manchester City's recent hard-line stance on transfers if the Blues are to break the negotiation deadlock between Lazio and CSKA.

But players of the ability of Honda are rarely available during the winter transfer window.