Manchester City prepare for crucial week of player sales

Posted Tuesday, August 19, 2014 by Goal.com

The English champions could offload up to four members of their first-team squad, with the likes of Matija Nastasic, Micah Richards, Scott Sinclair and John Guidetti free to leave

Manchester City are preparing for a potentially pivotal week as they step up plans to sell up to four first-team stars prior to the summer transfer window closing.

Goal understands that the likes of Matija Nastasic, Micah Richards, Scott Sinclair and John Guidetti are all free to leave the club as boss Manuel Pellegrini looks to trim a bulging squad and extravagant wage bill, with key meetings involving all four planned in the coming days.

Nastasic is attracting strong interest from Roma, who could make a move for the Serbian defender should they decide to cash-in on reported Manchester United and Chelsea target Mehdi Benatia.

The 21-year-old defender joined the club from Fiorentina back in 2012 but has struggled to earn a regular starting spot in the City team and is currently behind the likes of Vincent Kompany, Martin Demichelis and summer signing Eliaquim Mangala.

Juventus are another Serie A club interested in the player who City rate at €19 million [£15m], while both Milan clubs are also monitoring the situation but would prefer a loan deal.

With Nastasic's desire to play regular football, Manuel Pellegrini has admitted he is open to selling and told the press: "Matija needs to play. We already have important players here with four full-backs, Demichelis, Kompany, Mangala and [Dedryck] Boyata.

"So we will see in the next few days what happens with Nastasic. He is an important player but he has offers and I think the best thing for him is to play.

"We will see what happens but we have until the end of August to see what kind of offers we get for Matija."