I've never understood why City picked up Samir Nasri. City already had David Silva and needed a good backup rather than another starter. Occasionally Nasri shined last season, but invariably at the expense of James Milner, which seems a complete waste. And then I watched the Community Shield and simply put, Roberto Mancini is a very smart manager.

Some 18 months ago I did a podcast, here at Soccernet, where I was asked about the players I would be interested in should I be given the keys to the vault. One player I identified as a major target was Everton's Jack Rodwell who I believe is one of the great upcoming talents in the English game.