Manchester City Transfer News and Rumours Tracker: Week of July 22

Manchester City announced this past week that after a fallow few weeks, quiet time is over.

Sheikh Mansour is making it rain in the club that is in the Barclays Premier League.

Stevan Jovetic cost City a mere £25.8 million, per Chris Wheeler, Rik Sharma and Simon Jones of the Daily Mail.

Alvaro Negredo set City back at least another £16.4 million (that figure could go higher) according to Jack de Menezes of the Independent.

It is no surprise that City's summer haul of Jovetic, Negredo, Fernandinho and Jesus Navas has set tongues wagging throughout the league.

No less an authority than Petr Cech mouthed off a bit according to the Sun's Rob Beasley: “Money has never won anything. You can spend as much as you want but you must build a team first."

Right, because Roman Abramovich is known for his judicious use of money.

Daily Mail scribe Wheeler recently wrote that City are not even done yet: "City have spent more than £90 million on new signings so far this summer and are still expected go back into the transfer market for a centre-back."

City are telling Cech and those with similar opinions that they can blame it on the rain, 'cause the rain don't mind.

With all these new players coming in, though, might City see some familiar faces to the door in the process?

Sergio Aguero

The low buzz coming from Sergio Aguero regarding his possible willingness to leave Manchester City is still just barely audible. But it's there.

Charles Perrin of the Daily Express was on record a couple of weeks back noting that Aguero might be "open to a move to the Camp Nou this transfer window."

Not surprisingly, though, Perrin observed in the same piece that City power-mongers "Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain may be unwilling to part with their prize asset."

Could an absurd amount of Real Madrid's money change their minds? That is the thinking from the Metro, anyway: "Manchester City are bracing themselves for a blockbuster bid from Real Madrid for Sergio Aguero."

The piece continues: "Aguero may not be happy if he falls down City’s pecking order."

You don't say.

Micah Richards

Micah Richards is very happy to stay at Manchester City as long as he plays as much as Pablo Zabaleta.

Yeah, I was not sure I read that right the first time I read it, either.

Richards, who in the prior season made all of seven appearances in the Premier League for City, wants assurances that he will play as often as Zabaleta, arguably City's most valuable defender last year.

It still does not look right.

Let's see how it looks when someone else writes it: "Micah Richards wants to be satisfied that he will play as much as Pablo Zabaleta at Manchester City this season before committing himself to a new long-term contract," wrote Chris Wheeler in the Daily Mail.

According to Wheeler, Richards thinks fair is only fair: "I don’t expect to play every game but the season we won the league me and Zaba rotated really well together. If we can do that this season, I’ll be happy."

Well, when you put it that way...no, it still looks ridiculous.

Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri is not imminently linked to a move from Manchester City.

But the combination of new signings Jesus Navas and Fernandinho, who will probably chip away at his playing time, and his recent loose talk to FIFA.com will probably not endear him much to City management or fans.

Speaking about his wildly disappointing season with City last year, Nasri was not exactly a stand-up guy: "I accept criticism as long as it's justified, but there were lots of lies about me. I made mistakes, I know, but I'm not the ugly duckling that some people seem to think."

Translation from French to English can be tricky, so let me take a stab at translating that last bit of verbiage from Nasri: I only accept criticism if I agree with it, and I am a much better player than my critics say I am.

The Frenchman's loose talk makes me want to borrow from yet another language: oy vey.

Pepe

If Manchester City are in fact not finished spending on new talent, their next big acquisition might be Real Madrid defender Pepe.

Per Simon Jones of the Daily Mail, "Manchester City are weighing up a fresh move for Real Madrid defender Pepe" after City's initial offer of £15 million was rejected by Real as being a bit light.

Well, if £15 million is not enough, might £22 million do it? That is the question posed by Paul Hetherington of the Daily Star.

Regarding Pepe, Hetherington wrote: "The Premier League’s biggest spenders in this transfer window are prepared to pay £22 million. New boss Manuel Pellegrini wants more Champions League know-how in his squad."

Hetherington also observed that such a signing would push City's total spending this summer past £110 million.

That is not a misprint.

Joleon Lescott

Possibly one of the biggest shockers of a big, bold Manchester City transfer window is a move they did not make.

Joleon Lescott appears to be staying on at City.

Simon Jones of the Daily Mail reports that, even though City are looking seriously at acquiring Pepe from Real Madrid, Lescott is still very much in City's plans.

Jones notes that City "have already decided to give Lescott a new one-year deal with director of football Txiki Begiristain set to open talks...over the next 48 hours."

Maybe this development is not entirely unexpected, as City manager Manuel Pellegrini had voiced interest in keeping Lescott around a couple of weeks back, per the Daily Express.

Still, where and when exactly does Lescott think he will ever play for City?

Maybe this is the market talking.