Barcelona are preparing to launch a big-money summer move for Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany — as Roberto Mancini declares he needs to go on a major spending spree to close the gap on rivals Manchester United.
Mancini hinted he needs to splash out more than £100 million to put the pressure on United and sustain a Champions League campaign. But the news that Kompany, 26, could be heading to the Nou Camp might scupper his maths. The Belgium star signed a six-year deal with the Barclays Premier League champions last year but that is
unlikely to deter Barcelona, who desperately need a top-class centre-back to replace injured captain Carles Puyol, 34. Capped 100 times by Spain, Puyol is out for this season after knee surgery last month. Barcelona have a £40m-plus war chest and had already shown interest in Kompany when Pep Guardiola was in charge.
Now they are poised to swoop, especially after the club-v-country row when Mancini criticised the Belgian after he disobeyed orders to pull out of his country’s World Cup qualifier with Macedonia over his fitness.
As for a City spending spree, Mancini said: ‘We need to improve our team this way, and then maybe for the next three or four years we’ll only need to buy one player. In the summer we need to buy important players who can improve our team. We are working on our targets.’ – Mail On Sunday