Manchester City Transfer News and Rumours Tracker: Week of July 29

Manchester City had indicated that they were not finished spending money in the summer transfer window despite their recent spending splurge.

The haul of Jesus Navas, Fernandinho, Alvaro Negredo and Stevan Jovetic cost City upwards of £90 million, yet new manager Manuel Pellegrini was telling anyone who asked that the club was not finished spending.

Then City lost projected starting centre-back Matija Nastasic to an ankle injury significant enough to see him leave the pitch on a stretcher, and the likelihood of City spending more money went from "maybe" to "you better believe it."

There is no point fretting about the circumstances surrounding how Nastasic went down. Yes, the pitch in Hong Kong was extremely wet and borderline unplayable, per Chris Wheeler of the Daily Mail. 

But City and their management knew that before fielding a team against Sunderland in the Barclays Asia Trophy final. Play with fire, get burned, go mend.

City must now focus on accounting for Nastasic's absence, the length of which is yet unknown.

Fortunately, when you have City's financial resources at hand, there are always options.

Pepe

All of a sudden, the decisions to let Kolo Toure and Maicon leave the Etihad so easily look shortsighted.

With Matija Nastasic gone for at least the beginning of the season and perhaps longer, City are now left with Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott as the only tested centre-backs on the roster.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has been subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) indicating his interest in acquiring Pepe from Real Madrid for much of the summer.

Per Mark Ogden of The Telegraph, Pellegrini is still being coy but the need for reinforcement at centre-back might force his hand, and Pepe is near the top of the list.

"We have the whole month of July and some days of August to finish completely the squad. It is not absolutely complete but it's very near to being complete," said Pellegrini according to the Ogden report.

Particularly if Nastasic is going to miss much more than a few weeks, the probability of Pepe ending up in sky blue this season is trending way up.

Gareth Barry

Too bad for Gareth Barry he does not play centre-back.

ESPN.com is reporting that Barry perceives writing on the wall despite his manager's assurances that Barry remains in City's plans going forward.

"I've got to admit that, with Yaya Toure, Javi Garcia and now Fernandinho in the squad, it's going to be tough for anyone to nail down a position in central midfield," Barry observed.

As a result, per the ESPN.com report, "Barry is prepared to leave Manchester City on a free transfer next summer when his contract expires."

If that is how it ends for Barry at the Etihad, it would be sort of a shame. He has been a very dependable performer for City in recent years.

Edin Dzeko

Edin Dzeko has played an awful lot of football for Manchester City this preseason.

With Sergio Aguero largely out of action and latecomers Stevan Jovetic and Alvaro Negredo not joining the squad until recently, Dzeko has often been the focal point of City's attack in their African and Asian preseason friendlies.

The amount of run given to Dzeko, who was deployed primarily as a late-match substitute by former City manager Roberto Mancini, begged several questions.

Was City playing Dzeko extended minutes out of sheer necessity? Was Dzeko being given a chance to prove his mettle to a new manager? Or, perhaps, was Dzeko being showcased for a possible transfer?

While we still do not know what City's plans for Dzeko are, we do know that interest in the Bosnian striker remains high.

As reported by SportsDirect News, "Tottenham Hotspur are considering an offer for Manchester City’s Edin Dzeko if Valencia striker Roberto Soldado turns out to be too expensive."

In the same piece, it is noted that City have not expressly stated a desire to move Dzeko. And it is a bit difficult to imagine City selling Dzeko to Spurs, a legitimate Premier League rival.

Sergio Aguero

Sergio Aguero has been Manchester City's mystery man of the summer.

He is not injured, or if he is, the injury is being kept out of the news.

He is also largely missing in action, as he was in the Barclays Asia Trophy final against Sunderland, where he was not even named on the team sheet per Goal.com. 

Even given the acquisitions of Alvaro Negredo and Stevan Jovetic, it is difficult to imagine new City manager Manuel Pellegrini wanting to part with Aguero.

Aguero is City's best striker until proven otherwise.

Still, there was talkSPORT, dredging up old news and making it new again this week.

"There had been speculation that Real Madrid were considering a bid to bring the 25-year-old back to Spain," talkSPORT rehashed.

Then the sports gabber added another non-news element: "El Confidencial report that Barcelona made an enquiry earlier this summer—one that was immediately rejected by City."

Next week, watch for talkSPORT's report of City's inquiries about Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, all of which will have been quickly shot down.

Aleksandar Kolarov

Aleksandar Kolarov, who has fairly recently made noise about his lack of playing time at Manchester City and his consequent willingness to leave, should probably put his luggage away for the time being.

As Simon Jones reported for the Daily Mail, "Manchester City have rebuffed further enquiries from Galatasaray and Juventus for left-back Aleksandar Kolarov. The Serbian, 27, is keen to gain more playing time."

That report was authored shortly before Matija Nastasic's ankle injury cast his status in immediate suspension and long-term doubt, per David Kent of the Daily Mail.

Right, so Kolarov does not play centre-back. Noted.

The bottom line is that, until and unless City replaces Nastasic in the transfer market, the club is in an "all hands on deck" mode in the run-up to this highly anticipated Premier League season.

Kolarov can fill in on the back line when needed and he remains an invaluable player from a roster depth perspective.

His dreams of additional playing time elsewhere will probably have to wait.