Everyone seems to be penning articles about Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins, cycling and Sky Sports News this Monday morning, so it's a bit of a struggle to find anything worthy of this grand stage.

What do we have though? Yes, it's an expose on new Manchester City signing Aleksandar Kolarov and his bullet of a shot.

This comes from Nick Pisa, who was writing in the Daily Mail, and is complete with You Tube clips.

Manchester City's £17million new signing Aleksandar Kolarov has a reputation for his thunderous shots - just ask an Italian referee and his former Lazio team-mates.

Referee Massimiliano Saccani was knocked out for several minutes in February 2009 by one of the player's strikes during a match against Torino.

Nine months later it was the turn of Ezequiel Lavazzi of Napoli, who also suffered the same fate.

During a Lazio training session, Kolarov managed to break three fingers of team-mate Sebastiano Siviglia after unleashing another power drive. Because of his powerful strike, his nickname at Lazio was Roberto Carlos.

Kolarov, who plays on the left-hand side of midfield, scored six goals in 82 appearances for Rome's second club.

Although no-one is disputing his skill, there has been surprise at just how much Manchester City have paid for him especially as his strike rate hardly lit up Serie A.

Last December, former Inter boss Jose Mourinho had offered £7m for him and it is hard to see how his price has more than doubled in just seven months.

Lazio fans' forums spoke of their surprise at the figure City had paid but wished Kolarov well, adding that they hoped the windfall would be spent on quality players.

Like everyone who scores against Roma in the cross-city derby, he is a darling for the Ultras.