Manchester City Transfer News: Zlatan Ibrahimovic a Strange Target for City

What do you get Manchester City, the club that now has (almost) everything after claiming the English Premier League title? What do you get Roberto Mancini, a man who's spent millions upon millions of Saudi oil money on attacking talent, from Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez to Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko?

Why, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, of course! Or, at least, that's what the British tabloid rumor mill has drummed up so far.

According to Rob Beasley of The Sun, Mancini is keen to lure the Swede to the Etihad Stadium with the promise of silverware and gold, to the tune of £300,000 a week in wages. Such would make Ibra the highest-paid player in the Premiership, well ahead of even City star midfielder Yaya Toure, who garners £250,000 per week.

Mancini was responsible for bringing Ibra to Inter Milan in 2006 and was sacked two years later amidst club president Massimo Moratti's displeasure with the manager's inability to get over the proverbial hump in the UEFA Champions League.

Which, ironically enough, would appear to be the slight against which Mancini is attempting to protect himself by allegedly moving for Ibra. His high-priced City squad failed to survive the group stage of the Champions League this season and was summarily dispatched from the Europa League by Sporting shortly thereafter.

Mancini knows full well the value and rigors of Champions League football as well as the need for depth and size that it precipitates. City have a cavernous well of world-class attacking players from which to draw, but not much height and strength (of any quality, anyway) among that group.

So, it makes sense, then, that rumors would have Mancini taking an interest in the 6'5" Ibrahimovic.

But at what price?

Forget about Sheikh Mansour's mountains of money. He can surely afford Ibra, a player of tremendous technical skill and creativity for his size. However, can Mancini afford to place so much trust, financially and otherwise, in a man of Ibra's repute? Can City thrive with Zlatan sitting atop their pyramid of well-paid mercenaries?

And is there even a touch of hubris in potentially pursuing a player who's worn out his welcome wherever he's been to settle in on a club already saddled with volatile personalities (i.e. Balotelli and Tevez)?

Not to mention the backlog of strikers already on the payroll.

Surely, Zlatan, the egotist he seems to be, would relish the opportunity to conquer the EPL after pillaging the continent with Ajax, Barcelona and the powers of northern Italy.

However, is it worth it for City, to risk spoiling something special by including a 30-year-old whose prodigious talents are exceeded only by his massive ego?

Perhaps. Football empires are built on bold maneuvers more so than safe ones.

They're also often doomed by the former. Mancini, the manager who would appear to have it all, might have to reach further to find out, though doing so could come back to bite him in a big way.

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