Soccer
Man City aim for new players
2012-07-28 13:18
Kuala Lumpur - Manchester City manager Roberto
Mancini said on Saturday that the English Premier League champions could
have news on new players in the next fortnight.
Mancini - who is
believed to be exasperated at the slow progress his club has made in
luring coveted Arsenal captain Robin van Persie - said the team needed
to bring in new players to improve.
"We did well last year," he
told reporters in Kuala Lumpur where the team will play a friendly
against a team of selected Malaysian players on Monday as part of their
pre-season Asia tour.
"This year will be harder because when you win... the problem is (to) win again."
"For
this reason I think that we need to improve our team with maybe some
new players... I'm sure that maybe in the next two weeks we can do
something about new players," he added.
Van Persie's future has
been the focus of intense speculation since he told Arsenal that he
would not be renewing his contract with them. Mancini did not comment on
Van Persie Saturday but has recently said he admires him.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said on Friday that the club has not received any offers for the Dutchman.
Mancini said City was talking to some players.
"We
are talking to some players, but the market is not easy. It's
difficult, and for this we need more time," he said, dodging another
question on whether he was frustrated with the slow place of talks.
He also declined to say how many new players City wanted.
"I don't know at this moment. But we have a lot of players and I don't think that we need 10 new players."
He also warned it would be a "big mistake" for City to become complacent after their Premier League victory.
"We need to improve. We need to work hard... because we want to stay on top for a long time," he said.
Manchester
City captain Vincent Kompany, who has been handed a new six-year
contract, said for the new season "the most important thing is that you
start everything back from scratch".
"It's a new season, it's a
new adventure... I guess the only message that needs to be put out to
the team is that if we want to do it again, we'll have to work even
harder," the Belgian defender said.
Manchester City, who are
visiting Malaysia for the first time, won 2-0 in a friendly against
Premier League rivals Arsenal in Beijing on Friday.
Malaysia has
hosted several top English Premier League clubs, who are increasingly
keen to nurture a fan base and help attract sponsors in Asia.
Arsenal
visited the Southeast Asian country before travelling to China to meet
Manchester City. Queens Park Rangers played two friendlies in Malaysia
earlier this month.