Let’s start with a piece from Julian Boland of Soccer Without Limits, who has hailed Stevan Jovetic’s performance in pre-season, suggesting the upcoming campaign could present the striker’s ‘time to shine’.
“In Stevan Jovetic’s maiden season at Manchester City, he was plagued with injury and couldn’t take off,” writes Boland.
“Now though, he has shined in the Sky Blue jersey and in the International Champions Cup, he has been as powerful as an F-35 jet; having harassed the helpless defenders with flurries of passes like bullets and flying under the radar behind enemy lines into good positions to score.
“While Jovetic has started the preseason games as a striker and spent his time in Serie A in this position, he is very versatile. Unlike his competitors Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo and Edin Dzeko, Jovetic has this quality and can play anywhere up front.
“He can play the aforementioned striker role, play behind the striker and either wing, using his explosive pace and skill to excel in each position.
“Along with his versatility, Jovetic’s flair and ability can make him instrumental this season to Manchester City.
“When on the ball, the former Fiorentina forward turns on the afterburners and zooms past defenders, and in one on one situations with defenders he always tries to use skill and manages to pull off a nutmeg or something unique that works.
“Something that has only started to appear is his play maker side, having constantly sprayed balls forward for his team to run onto in good positions, and with creative midfielders such as Samir Nasri and
Well Julian, I think you may be right. I can’t wait to see Stevan in domestic action!
Elsewhere, the Mirror have shared a rather unusual story, entitled: ‘Manchester City newcomer Fernando hails from UFO hot-spot and fancies an out of this world season’.
Yes, I was as intrigued as you are...
Simon Mullock reports: “Manchester City new-boy Fernando was born and bred in a mystical Brazilian town famous for being a hot-spot for UFOs.
“But the only flying objects the Blues’ Brazilian midfielder is interested in seeing are opposition players.
“Fernando finally brought an end to Manuel Pellegrini’s year-long mission to land him when he arrived at the Etihad in a £12million deal earlier this summer.
“He comes with a reputation of being a no-hold-barred enforcer and the nickname of ‘the Octopus’ – given to him after he had strangled the life out of Manchester United’s midfield in a Champions League tie five years ago.
“But the 27-year-old was all smiles as he took a break from a coaching session with American kids outside the Yankee Stadium in the Bronx to talk about his journey from Alto Paraíso to Manchester via Porto.”
Quoted in the article, Fernando states: “I grew up in Alto Paraíso, which means Paradise on high.
“It is famous for having many water falls, but it is the mysticism and spiritualism of the area that brings many visitors – and also the fact that some people claim to have seen UFOs.
“Many people say that they have seen spaceships – but I haven’t seen one yet!”
Erm, fair enough...
And finally, the Daily Mail believe striker John Guidetti could be set for a return to Holland.
According to Joe Bernstein: “Feyenoord and Ajax are among several European clubs who have enquired about the 22-year-old Swede, above, whose only first-team appearance for City came in a League Cup tie against West Brom in 2010.
“Guidetti secured Premier League experience for Stoke last season, but failed to sparkle on a loan move.
“With Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo absent in pre-season, Guidetti has had another chance to shine. But when the duo return it is expected he will be out in the cold again and swiftly moved on.”
That’s all for today. Come back to mcfc.co.uk again at the same time tomorrow for another round-up of City-related media speculation. In the meantime, have you watched the highlights from the game against Olympiacos?
