Dutch international defender Gregory van der Wiel is the latest young star to be linked with City in press around the world.

The 21-year-old 5 foot 6 right full-back became a regular in the Ajax side last term under coach Marco van Basten and also made his debut for the Dutch national side to boot.

He looks set to star at the next World Cup in South Africa and City have been following his progress for some time now.

With their defence still looking decidedly shaky, even after their multimillion dollar face lift, the Citizens of Manchester are scouring the transfer market to plug the wide open gaps in their defence.

Whether Mark Hughes will be the man to actually sign the Dutch youngster up is another matter though as a quarter final cup exit against Arsenal and a defeat against Chelsea on Sunday could see the Welsh supremo receive his marching orders.

According to his agent, Van der Weil is not fazed by the constant rumours linking him with Europe’s top clubs.

And although Hakim Slimani maintains Van Der Wiel has been watched closely by the Blues, he does state that matters stop there for now.

Slimani said: “There is no official contact between Ajax and Manchester City.

“But I cannot deny that his performance has been closely followed by Manchester City.”

Slimani insists Van Der Wiel is one hundred percent focused on seeing out his contract at Ajax Amsterdam which has three years left still to run.

“That’s why Greg is not concerned with a transfer to another club,” continued Slimani.

“He’s just broken through last season.

“This season he has set himself the target of being a major player for Ajax.”

Robinho has stirred up the exit rumours that have surrounded him at Manchester City by saying that he would enjoy a move to Barcelona. It had been expected that the Brazilian playmaker would be thrown into this weekend’s Manchester City match but Mark Hughes may now leave him out.

Robinho said: “Of course I would like to play for Barcelona, who wouldn’t? We could really enjoy ourselves. It would be a pleasure to play alongside [Lionel] Messi, my compatriot [Dani] Alves, Xavi, [Andrés] Iniesta, [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic, everyone. They are a great team. I have played against them and I know all about their quality. But until now I have only been able to play with them on the PlayStation.”

“Pep Guardiola’s side is truly spectacular. It is an honour that a coach like Guardiola speaks highly of me, for him to rate me as highly as I have read that he does. I genuinely appreciate it, from the bottom of my heart.”

“I can assure you that right now my father, who is my only representative, hasn’t said anything to me about Barcelona. I don’t know anything, believe me. Besides, out of respect for Manchester City, the two clubs are the ones that should talk about my transfer or loan and then tell me [what they have decided]. It’s not right to talk about this hypothetical transfer or loan until there’s something more concrete.”

“It’s a question of sitting down and talking about it when there is a concrete and serious offer. Let me make one thing clear: I have a contract with City and as a professional I owe my allegiance to them.”

A lot of people did question his move to Manchester City when it did happen and those that said it would be a matter of time until he moved on again may be proved right. The point is that City pay Robinho a stupid amount of money that probably no other club would offer so he simply has to way up whether he is more of a football player or a mercenary.

He added: “It is no secret that [in the summer] there was clear interest from Barcelona in signing me but Manchester City didn’t want to negotiate. I was declared non-transferable and that’s the way it stays.”

“I’m concentrating on doing the best I can for City. We’re thinking big now. We have built a very strong side that has aspirations of winning the Premier League with Carlos Tevez, [Emmanuel] Adebayor, [Joleon] Lescott and [Gareth] Barry.”

The unpredictable Robinho could be used by Manchester City as a piece of transfer bait ahead of the January transfer window. Robinho has been in and out of the City side for various reasons ever since he joined the club two summers ago.

Mark Hughes is showing his ambition as the manager with every game that passes and with even more big names lined up for City, Robinho could be the first player who finds himself moving another way for a more solid player.

Hughes said: “There were a lot of questions — would we be able to gel early as a team, would so-called egos in the dressing room be able to be managed — being asked of us before a ball was even kicked.”

“I think we have answered each and every one of them. We know there is a long way to go but we are pleased with the start we have made because we needed one. The review we have had of the first phase [of the season] has been good.”

Among the new names that have been connected with the club is Barcelona captain, Carlos Puyol. The Spain international is nearing the end of his career and is quickly running out of time in terms of being able to go to another club and experience a new challenge.

The big problem so far for City has been that their defence does not appear to be tight enough to keep out the most talented if sides that can score goals against them easily. This was demonstrated perfectly during the Manchester derby where they were able to score three goals at Old Trafford but still lost the match.

Puyol would probably also arrive as captain and he would bring a huge presence. He would demand perfection and could effectively seal the defence up. With Shay Given in goal, arguably one of the most under rated goalkeeprs in the history of the game, if the move comes off it would be a Hughes master stroke.

The reason that Robinho, a very good player, would be sacrificed is because Hughes is going after stability and not unpredictability. The only way City will start to win things every season is if they have a team that is full of reliable and consistent players. Not the sort of players that turn up for training late or only perform when they feel fit enough themselves.

Roque Santa Cruz is exactly the sort of player that Manchester City need to silence everyone doubting the club, according to manager, Mark Hughes. Santa Cruz is one of the players that made the move to City during the summer but has not been able to get into the side because of injury.

The point that Hughes talks about him is because he is not a player that appears to carry an ego. He is more of a good old English type of centre forward than any thing else and Hughes believes this will help the performance of the club and the reputation of the club.

He said: “I like what he gives us. He is a big guy, his physical presence is important for us, because we are not the biggest team in the world up front.”

“Technically, he is good enough. I will always remember the first training session he had at Blackburn and the reaction the other players showed when they saw what he had produced. He has the ability that you sit up and take notice of. I blew all my budget on him when I was at Blackburn and that shows you what I thought of him. He did wonderfully there and if he can replicate even half of that then he will be good value.”

“Roque has been at the biggest club in Germany so he is used to performing under pressure at a club with a big profile. He has the mentality I need.”

It is unknown at this stage whether or not Santa Cruz will be back in Premier League action any time soon. He is still in the recovery stages of injury and although if he was thrown in at the deep end for City’s next Premier League game, he wouldn’t complain but it would not be wise.

As for the point about reputation, City are fast associating themselves with a lot of players who seem to be very egotistical. If Santa Cruz comes in then he can hit the ground running and prove to all of the neutrals around the country that City have good work ethical players and are not just a bunch of over paid premadonas.

It will be good to see him back on a football pitch and although the likes of Wrexham are good and honest clubs they have nothing in Premier League standards. Santa Cruz’s recovery canno be gauged until he is playing against the best that football has to offer.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has launched a scathing attack on Manchester City in the wake of the incidents that surrounded their match at the weekend. Wenger is thought to be furious because of the way that former Arsenal player, Emanuel Adebayor reacted to him personally as well as his side and the Arsenal fans.

Wenger said: “Did you watch it? If you’ve watched football for 20 years, you know as well as me what a player can do. You can ease off or not ease off. The biggest thing is in a challenge.”

“I played football and I know exactly, in a fraction of a second, where you leave in or move out. You know exactly at that fraction, I can injure somebody or I can not injure somebody, and you ease off or you leave in. I have seen some challenges where if you do that in the street, you go to jail. It [the challenge on Van Persie] looks very bad. You ask 100 people, 99 will say it’s very bad and the hundredth will be Mark Hughes.”

“In football, everybody is free to have an opinion. If somebody stamps on your head in that way, you wouldn’t say: ‘Thank you very much. Can I turn the other cheek?’ Only Jesus Christ did that.”

“What people say is that sometimes a striker makes the most of it because he wants to cheat. Sometimes because he wants to protect himself and sometimes because he wants to show the referee that he has been touched. Sometimes it is a reflex. It doesn’t mean that the player is always cheating.”

This is not the first time that Wenger has come out publicly with some strong views but it is one of the very few times when a lot of people have actually agreed with him. How Mark Hughes can defend how his player behaved at the weekend is very strange and it does not reflect well on him or the club.

City fans should be ashamed, instead of sitting with some sort of sick satisfaction. The club is quickly going down the route of being hated and have taints associated with every thing they now achieve. When you are not the most fond of football clubs in the first place you need the players to work hard and grind out the victory, not behave like an animal and an idiot.

Manchester City will not fight any ban that is given to their star striker, Emanuel Adebayor. The Football Association have already dished out a three match ban for the players stamp on Arsenal’s, Robin Van Persie, and an investigation into Adebayor’s celebration in front of Arsenal fans is ongoing.

The former Gooner has been heavily criticised ever since City’s victory last weekend and although Mark Hughes is inciting hatred for his defence of the player, the club have said they will not challenge the FA decision.

A City statement read: “The player strongly maintains that he did not intend to act in a violent manner. He apologised on the day to Robin van Persie personally and to the wider public for the outcome of the challenge.”

It does appear that City are trying to move on from the incident which has reflected very badly on the club itself. With crucial matches coming up, including one against high flying Tottenham and current champions Manchester United, the emphasis needs to be on the pitch.

The point is that there would be no value at all in putting together an appeal package. This may seen by the FA as merely problematic and a delaying tactic by City which could eventually get the ban increased to four or five matches. It would not be the first time that the FA would have done this and the three match ban is consideed sufficient enough by the Manchester club.

In a bizarre twist it seems that Adebayor has drawn some defence from Spurs manager, Harry Redknapp. He said: “I’ve got no time for people kicking anybody or being violent on the football pitch and he was wrong to run the length of the field, but it’s very difficult when you’re getting abuse throughout the game like he was.”

“It’s not celebrating a goal that cause riots, it’s idiots who want to start riots. Adebayor went over the top but, at the same time, he was getting a lot of abuse from the fans for the whole afternoon.”

“What did he do really? Run back and go like that, saying he scored. I’m not saying it’s right but if you can’t go near the away fans when you score because you’ll cause a riot. If I had been standing there and we had been giving him grief all game and he did that, I would probably say, ‘Fair play’.”