• Premier League

Balotelli and Dzeko won't be cut from squad - Mancini

ESPNsoccernet staff
May 11, 2011
Mario Balotelli has had a mixed first season at Manchester City © PA Photos
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Roberto Mancini has declared his intention to keep Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko at Manchester City, despite a clear desire to improve the squad still further this summer.

City guaranteed themselves a crack at Champions League football by securing a top-four finish on Tuesday, beating Tottenham 1-0 at Eastlands. Victory now gives Mancini's men the platform on which to attract some of the world's top names.

Finances will not be a problem for owner Sheikh Mansour and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, but Mancini will not want to flood his already significant squad. The Italian has Carlos Tevez, Balotelli, Dzeko, David Silva, Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips all available to him as out-and-out attacking options, and he has already confessed AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be welcome at the club.

However, Mancini does not intend to sell Dzeko or Balotelli, despite the former proving to be something of a flop thus far, while the latter has clear disciplinary issues.

"He will definitely stay," Mancini said of Balotelli in The Sun, following claims the youngster has picked up 27 parking fines since moving to England. "Mario is an ongoing bet. He has shown he has all the right qualities but needs to do more, much more, to give sense to his talent.

"If he could perhaps maybe even walk to the restaurant he would become a champion. His car has not been towed 27 times, it's a bit less than that. But, yes, he does get lots of fines and that's because, even though he lives just 500 metres from the restaurant, he goes by car. You can't park in front of the place, so he parks on the pavement."

Switching focus to Dzeko, Mancini commented: "The reason we bought Edin in January was so he could adapt. I'm convinced he'll score thousands of goals next season. His current difficulties remind me of Fernando Torres at Chelsea. "Torres is having some troubles adapting to how Chelsea play and he's blending in to a new club. But he, like Dzeko, will come good. Edin is part of a good squad and the team is nearly made. But we will need to strengthen again, as you play every three days here in England. "Last January we had some problems because injuries robbed us of alternatives in team selection."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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