The 48-year-old spoke highly of all three of his reported transfer targets, while he also suggested that the likes of Samir Nasri and Joe Hart have underperformed this season
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has hinted that the Premier League champions will launch an overhaul of their squad in the summer by revealing his admiration for Radamel Falcao, Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez.
Goal.com revealed on Friday that Chelsea and Manchester City would go head-to-head in the pursuit of Falcao and Cavani this summer.
And Mancini has fuelled speculation linking City with the Uruguayan, as well as his fellow countryman Suarez, who Goal.com revealed was considering his Liverpool future in January, and Colombian Falcao.
“I like him, but all the world wants him [Cavani]. There are big players,” Mancini told the Guardian. “I don’t know what can happen. Suarez plays for a top team like Liverpool. Cavani plays for Napoli.
“Cavani and Falcao would work in England. They have experience. Both players are 26, 27. They are good enough to play in England.”
As also revealed by Goal.com, Neymar is another player on City’s wishlist. Mancini, however, fears the Premier League champions will miss out on the Brazilian as he may not be suited to English football.
“Neymar is a good player. He’s young. I don’t know if he’s ready to play in England because the football is totally different. I think he will go to Barcelona or Madrid where the football is more technical.“
Mancini’s desire to overhaul his current squad stems from the notion that several of his stars have under-performed this season and he singled out goalkeeper Joe Hart as one of them, warning that he is not too big to be benched.
He explained: “Listen, I believed in Joe when nobody else did. I put him in the goal when everybody thought it was impossible that he could play ahead of Shay Given, who at that time was one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. I love Joe. If not, I wouldn’t have put him in the team two years ago.
“But it’s simple. If Joe continues to make mistakes, he goes on the bench. I’ve done it with Samir, [David] Silva and [Carlos] Tevez this season and it can happen with Joe.
“The problem is the goalkeeper makes a mistake, we have lost the game. Joe has the quality to be the best goalkeeper anywhere.
“He is the best goalkeeper in England but in the situation Manchester City are in, if you want to stay at the top, you need to work hard and think only about football. He needs to think only of his job and that is being a goalkeeper.”
The 48-year-old went on to praise City midfielder Samir Nasri’s talent but criticised the Frenchman for not displaying it on a regular basis, suggesting he has not been playing at his optimum level.
He continued: “I think Samir has fantastic qualities. With his quality, he should always play well. Every game he could be the difference. A player of this quality could be one of the best players in Europe. But it’s not happening.
“Sometimes a player thinks it’s enough what they did the year before and doesn’t understand that every day they should improve.
“If you are a top player you know you can improve until the last day of your career but sometimes you get players who think it is not important to work and this is their worst mistake. Samir can do better than this year. He is a top player but he has not been playing at his level.”
The Italian also spoke of his position within the hierarchy at the Etihad Stadium, specifically pointing out that Txiki Beguiristain and Ferran Soriano are “not above” him.
He said: “Txiki and Ferran? They are not above me. Above me there is only Khaldoon [Al Mubarak] and Sheikh Mansour.”
“Ferran came from Barcelona and understands what it needs to be a top club. Txiki played football and knows football. They are good men.
“For this reason, I am optimistic about our future. We now have people who know their football. We need some players and they are working on it. At this moment it’s better our focus is on the last three months but the club knows this and I know this.”