As the upcoming winter 2015 transfer window moves closer, many teams across Europe have been preparing to make some changes to their squads.
And Manchester City is no exception. The reigning Premier League champions are currently going through an injury crisis, with talismanic attacker Sergio Aguero out until January with knee ligament damage. If the Argentinian star's absence was not bad enough, Manuel Pellegrini's back up options--Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic are also facing some time away from the pitch.
In fact, so bad are their striking woes that the Chilean tactician was forced to deploy midfielder James Milner up front as they powered to a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace. While Spanish international David Silva scored two out of those three goals he is not an out-and-out striker--something that Manchester City will need in order to remain competitive in the league and in Europe.
Queue the rumor mill. As per English reports, Pellegrini has made Atletico Madrid striker Mario Mandzukic as his primary target. The Croatian international, who only just arrived in Spain from Bayern Munich, has started off well for Diego Simeone's squad. So far, the 28-year-old has netted 14 goals in 22 appearances across all competitions, including a hat-trick versus Greek outfit Olympiakos to fire his side into the round of 16 in this season's Champions League and a goal against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup, which was the fastest ever in the competition's history.
Mario Mandzukic is reportedly the subject of a £25 million bid from the reigning Premier League champions
However, the lanky attacker has just arrived in Madrid and given his good start, Simeone will not be so keen on letting his team's top scorer go. However, the same report claims that Los Rojiblancos are apparently struggling financially and may not be able to resist an offer from cash-rich Manchester City.
