6 Players Manchester City Must Target to Make Them Champions League Winners

"What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?" Langston Hughes, "Harlem."

It took Manchester City almost 60 years to qualify for the knockout stage of UEFA's top club competition, now known as the Champions League.

It took the Sky Blues about 95 minutes to all but put themselves right back outside looking in.

Manchester City 0-2 Barcelona was not the Champions League playoff debut anyone from the blue side of Manchester hoped for. But the stinging defeat did reveal some weaknesses that City must address if they are ever to realize their dream of Champions League glory.

Here are six players Manchester City should pursue intently with future Champions League campaigns in mind.

Eliaquim Mangala

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

"Wish I could fly like Superman."

Manchester City's Champions League aspirations were not submarined only by the penalty-plus-red card foul Martin Demichelis committed on Lionel Messi. There were other culprits in sky blue that night.

But the Demichelis play did not help.

Ultimately, though, Demichelis is not to blame for City's failure to shore up the centre-back position after Matija Nastasic injured his ankle in Hong Kong last July. The City braintrust gambled that Nastasic or Joleon Lescott could serve as Vincent Kompany's steady running mate.

The gamble backfired, though, which is how the 33-year-old journeyman Demichelis ended up starting arguably the most high-profile match in club history against Barcelona.

"City are preparing to table a sensational £38 million bid for FC Porto defender Eliaquim Mangala," Liam Prenderville reported for the Mirror a while ago.

Time has passed and Mangala's allure has only grown.

John Drayton of the Daily Mail reported recently that "Manchester United went to go and watch Eliaquim Mangala...and are braced for a straight fight with rivals City for his signature."

Drayton added that "(t)he Porto central defender is one of the hottest properties in Europe."

City's centre-back troubles this season are no secret. Slotting Mangala in next to Vincent Kompany would solve a myriad of defensive problems for Manuel Pellegrini's side.

Luke Shaw

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

Shaw is sure on his feet, a quality City defenders occasionally lack.

The fact that rivals want a player is not necessarily a great reason to sign him. In Luke Shaw's case, though, City might consider landing him just to keep him away from threatening suitors.

Per Nick Lustig of the Daily Star, Southampton's owner Katharina Liebherr has promised that Shaw, among other Saints luminaries, would not be sold.

Be that as it may, "Manchester United are still interested in bringing Chelsea target Luke Shaw to Old Trafford and remain confident a deal can be struck with Southampton," Lustig wrote.

An offer of £22 million or so, as Moyes is believed to have made in January, could turn Liebherr's head.

That is a lot of money for an 18-year-old player with a consequently short Premier League playing record.

If Shaw is the goods, though, City could swoop in with an even higher offer and bolster their own back line while concurrently keeping him away from United and Chelsea.

Jan Vertonghen

Alastair Grant/Associated Press

Vertonghen would not need much by way of acclimation to the Premier League.

Tottenham Hotspur's Jan Vertonghen is making noises about leaving the London club if Spurs do not qualify for the Champions League next season.

“What I want is to be playing in the Champions League with Tottenham, so I hope we get in this year," Vertonghen has said according to an ESPNFC.com report. “Do I have a decision to make if we don't? I can't say anything about that."

The Manchester Evening News speculated in recent days that City are interested in Vertonghen.

And why not? Vertonghen is 26 and already knows the Premier League well. Playing for Spurs, Vertonghen has also dealt with the burdens of chasing multiple trophies.

As City proved with the Martin Demichelis signing, they could do a whole lot worse than Vertonghen.

Isco

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

You can never have too much midfield quality.

Early in the 2013 summer transfer window, Real Madrid midfielder Isco was believed to be signed and set for a Manchester City debut this season.

"Real then hijacked the deal—and City refused to get involved in an auction increased by agent fees allegedly driven by Isco’s father," noted Paul Hetherington of the Daily Star.

Per Hetherington, Isco is "not a first choice under Carlo Ancelotti" and therefore could again consider a summer move to City.

Isco would not come cheaply. The Daily Star's report speculates that Real Madrid would ask £30 million for the midfield prodigy.

Yaya Toure is 30. Fernandinho is 28; so is David Silva. City's midfield is aging in dog years and the young players who are supposed to be stepping up (Jack Rodwell in particular), um, aren't. City will need to spend money to strengthen the center of the park eventually anyway.

Maybe Isco is a surplus piece at Real Madrid. He would not have such problems cracking the XI at City.

Toni Kroos

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Kroos (right) is a transcendent talent who just might be available for the right price.

As Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini put it recently (per Richard Jolly of ESPNFC.com), "if we only consider this season, there is just one club in Manchester and it's ours."

That other club is trying hard to regain that top spot. Manchester United manager David Moyes has been slinking around Bayern Munich midfield star Toni Kroos like a pimply-faced teenager trailing a pageant winner.

Moyes has been led on by Bayern's complaints that Kroos has outrageous contract demands per Jamie Jackson of the Guardian. "Going through the roof" is how Bayern Munich honorary president Franz Beckenbauer put it.

Kroos in under contract through 2015, but if contract talks continue to lead nowhere Bayern could decide to sell the 24-year-old this summer and pour that money into another star with more reasonable wage demands.

City might be best served watching, waiting and, if Moyes has another wishy-washy transfer window this coming summer, pouncing. Jackson's report supposes that Kroos might be had for £25 million.

Sheikh Mansour keeps that in his glove box.

Victor Valdes

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Valdes was sure-handed when he needed to be against City.

As Martin Demichelis' error against Barcelona proved, certain mistakes have a way of becoming notorious and season-defining.

City keeper Joe Hart has survived the past couple of months without committing an obvious gaffe. Unfortunately for Hart, managers and fans never forget mistakes like this one, particularly when it comes against the club who presently lead the league.

Paul Brown of the Daily Star reported recently that "while City do not want to make any public statements about Valdes...they are increasingly confident of signing him."

As Brown noted further, City signing Valdes would keep the heat on Hart, who is only recently back in Pellegrini’s good books after a shaky spell." Costel Pantilimon is no threat to take Hart's job—but Valdes might be.

The recent John Cross item in the Mirror noted that "Valdes wants to move to the Premier League—putting Manchester City and Liverpool on alert...Valdes has told his advisers to sound out potential options in the Premier League."

The prior five slides featured young players who would each cost a small fortune. With Valdes rumored to be available on a free transfer in the summer (per Cross), City could upgrade their keeper position for a comparative pittance.