Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed Manchester City are working to bring in another striker but refused to name their number one target. Pellegrini's silence comes after Swansea City boss Garry Monk said that talks were ongoing between the clubs over the transfer of Wilfried Bony. Bony made a club record £12m switch to Swansea from Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem in the summer of 2013 and has since scored 34 goals in 70 appearances for the Welsh club.
"I don't talk about rumours," City boss Pellegrini said. "We are going to replace Alvaro Negredo because it was the decision that we've taken that we're going to sell him. We said we'd see in December if we need another striker. We need another striker so we are going to find which is the best player to play here."
Negredo's loan move to Valencia, which is due to become permanent in the summer, left City with only three experienced strikers for the first part of the season. And their lack of options in that area were exposed last month when Sergio Aguero, Stevan Jovetic and Edin Dzeko all picked up injuries, meaning midfielder James Milner had to play as a makeshift striker.
City's transfer dealings are complicated by the restrictions placed on them after they failed to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. The club's outlay across the summer and winter transfer windows cannot exceed £50m once money from sales is taken into account. Paying a reported £30m fee for Bony would take them over that but Pellegrini believes selling Negredo will give them leeway without having to let go of other players.
"We must be in FFP so I don't think we are going to spend a lot," he said. "We sell already Alvaro Negredo so we have some money to spend."
The other restriction is on City's UEFA Champions League squad, with Pellegrini only able to choose from 21 players in the competition. If Bony signs, the City boss would have to leave out a player who featured in their squad during the group stages.
"At the moment, if we bring another player, we must see which of the players will not be in the squad for Champions League," Pellegrini said. "We don't have space for a new player but that is a decision we are going to take one day before we need to do it, and that may be around the middle of February."
The Chilean, meanwhile, does not expect to strengthen in any other areas this month, although he has not ruled it out.
"For the moment, yes, it is the only one," he said. "I also said we have an option to use the transfer window until the last day and we will see what will happen in the future."
Source: FIFA.com