Transfer talk surrounding the Barclays Premier League champions has hushed to a whisper since the arrival of Eliaquim Mangala a fortnight ago.

However, City have returned to a back page or two this morning, with fresh speculation of a move for Monaco hitman Radamel Falcao in the pipeline.

The Colombian missed the lion’s share of the 2013/14 season and the World Cup through injury but Ben Jefferson of the Daily Express believes that the former Atletico man is looking for a move to the Premier League with City his preferred destination.

“Falcao is ready to accept a pay cut to force through a move away from Monaco this summer but Manchester City still lead Liverpool and Manchester United in the race for the Colombian striker,” the story reads.

“Reports earlier this week suggested that Juventus could trump the Premier League trio in the race for Falcao.

“But fresh reports in Italy suggest that it is in fact City that are leading the race for the former Atletico man, with Real Madrid a close second.

“Liverpool and United find themselves further down the list of the player’s preferred destinations along with Inter Milan.”

Legit or the last rumblings of silly season? Time will tell!

In yet more speculation surrounding strikers this morning, Simon Jones of the Daily Mail has written a story linking Alvaro Negredo with a move back to La Liga.

Apparently Valencia are the interested party, despite Alvaro’s metatarsal injury and his insistence that he’s happy at City earlier in the summer.

“City want £25million for Negredo but are reluctant to deal at this stage of the window,” Jones scribes.

“Juventus are keen on City’s Stevan Jovetic and Matija Nastasic who is attracting interest from Roma also.

Manuel Pellegrini has recently declared that he is happy with his squad, but wouldn’t rule out any outgoings.”

As ever, your first and only port of call for confirmed transfer stories should be right here on mcfc.co.uk.

Elsewhere, there are some interesting quotes from Jovetic in the Manchester Evening News which fly in the face of the notion of any return to Serie A.

The Montenegrin is keen to put his injury-hit debut season behind him, replicate his sparkling pre-season form in the Premier League and get on with making himself a hit at the Etihad Stadium.

“I don’t want to speak about last year, because I have said so many times what happened,” he’s quoted as saying.

“I just want to look to the future.

...Stevan Jovetic...

 

“I am happy to be here and I know that I am going to be an important player for this club and I am happy to be a part of this team.

“Of course, I am expecting so much from myself this season, I expect to score so many goals.

“It was nice to start the first game.

“I am very happy because I played and we did a good job. Also, Sergio came in and scored. We all did well.



“We have a very good team. There is great competition for places with Edin and Sergio and Alvaro.

“They are all there and we have to do our best and at the end, who is the best in that moment will play.

“We are looking forward to Liverpool. I can’t wait for it.”

Not long now… of course, the biggest story of yesterday was brought to you right here on the official site, with news of Edin Dzeko’s new four-year contract.

If you missed it, check out his City career so far infographic and keep your eye on the site and our social channels for an exclusive CityTV interview with him coming up later today.