Loading ...Aug 22 2008
City Look to Salvage Summer, Pursuing Thiago Neves
Yet another rumor surrounding Fluminense attacker Thiago Neves, though there is another suitor mentioned in this one. This time, it is Manchester City, a team who is still looking for that marquee name after being used by Ronaldinho early this summer. Neves, who just finished his Olympics commitment to Brazil, would fill that role, even if expectations of him are a bit high at this point. Atlético Madrid has also been strongly mentioned in some reports, but Neves’s representation is speaking openly about a City move, something that is both a good and a bad sign.
Neves saw limited time in Beijing, though in the one match he started (against China) he scored two goals. It was a somewhat predictable outcome, based on Brazil’s roster. He would be a late substitute most of the time, and with the team winning their first two matches in group play, he would get the last match of the first round to display his skills. That display threw him back on the radar of a lots of clubs that had lost track of him amidst Fluminense’s struggles in Brasileirao’s Serie A (and Neves’s lack of availability for them).
To me, it always seemed more likely that Neves would move on after the Olympics than return to his club. The transfer window is closing, some teams are desperate, and Fluminense has been terrible. Neves has not been very motivated for Flu. The club should cash in.
There is no team in Europe more desperate for players than Manchester City. They get Jô back now that Brazil’s Olympics are over, and Mark Hughes needs him. Desperately. Without Benjani, Darius Vassell and Valeri Bojinov (who went down in pre-match warm-ups on Sunday), the team was using a fifth choice striker without Jô when they played Aston Villa.
That probably bothered Manchester City’s brass less than not having a big name in the lineup to legitimize their aspirations to be a big club. I can not reiterate this enough: losing out on Ronaldinho was huge. Manchester City had put all their hopes into the signing, and when it went south, it was clear they had no back-up plan. Thiago Neves would become that back-up plan.
He is a very risky signing, but in order for Manchester City to start climbing to where it wants to be, they need to take a chance like this. After Ronaldinho, it would be best for them to assume that they are not going to get a marquee player by traditional means. And before they can acquire their second, third marquee players, they need to get one - one player that will legitimize them, as a club. Neves is not that player, by he can become a star. He could turn into a player that would attacted others; or, at least, open up a pipeline to the Brazilian league.
Tactically, Neves fits perfectly. In the short team, Jô would play the number nine role with Neves as a supporting striker who can play out on the left shout Mark Hughes (as he should, with his talent) go to more of a 4-5-1 look. Neves’s left foot would fit well in a deeper role, a role which would also allow him time to adjust to the speed and physicality of the Premiership.
Neves would have two Brazilians with him, to help with the adjustment to a new culture. Jô is making a similar adjustment, though he performed well in Moscow and can at least inform Neves on how to be a professional away from home. But Jô is also four years younger than Neves, an age difference which may belie any kind of mentorship (even a subtle one). Thankfully for City, Elano is on the roster. The 27-year-old midfielder may be less of a peer to Neves than Jô, but he is older and has three years of experience in Europe. Together, Jô and Elano should be able to form a small support net for Neves.
Neves has a volatile personal life, it has been reported. He spends his money and his time somewhat lavishly in Rio de Janiero, and there are concerns as to how the player with a checkered past would adjust to life in a big European city. Manchester is not the smallest place in the world, but it is also not Rome or London. One of the other teams being associated with Neves, Atlético Madrid, does rest in a big European city. At this point in his career, Manchester City might be a better option.
City is also likely to pay Neves more in salary, being absolutely desperate. If Neves wants contract outs, City may give them to him. It is an ideal move for City, and his representatives say an agreement is getting close. The only area of concern: his agents, in speaking publicly, are fishing for other offers. Neves and his representation may be taking a play from Ronaldinho’s book and using City as a launching pad to a more desirable team.
I’m not sure there is a more desirable team, though. Atlético Madrid acquiring him would compromise his playing time. There are rumors about German clubs, and while a move to a club like Hamburg would have many of the benefits of a City move, those rumors are weak.
It probably will not happen, but Thiago Neves to Manchester City makes sense.
Links
City keen on Brazilian
City in for bronze medalist
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