Manchester City Premier League season preview 2015/16
Saturday 8 August 2015 10:21, UK
All the transfer news, statistics, pundit views and odds ahead of Manchester City's 2015/16 season.
Position last season: 2nd
Sky Bet title odds: 5/2
Ins: Enes Unal (Bursaspor), David Faupala (Lens), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Patrick Roberts (Fulham), Fabian Delph (Aston Villa)
Outs: Scott Sinclair (Aston Villa), James Milner (Liverpool), Dedryck Boyata (Celtic), Angelino (New York City FC, loan), Micah Richards (Aston Villa), Karim Rekik (Marseille), Stevan Jovetic (Inter Milan), Olivier Ntcham (Genoa, loan), Enes Unal (Genk, loan)
Overview
After a weak defence of their Premier League title last season, Man City will aim to overhaul Chelsea and reclaim the crown in 2015/16. But, having fallen eight points short of Jose Mourinho’s men last term, there is much work to do.
The headline arrival is that of Raheem Sterling from Liverpool. The 20-year-old enjoyed a stellar individual campaign with the Reds last season, persuading City to make him the most expensive English player in history after a protracted transfer saga.
City scored 10 goals more than any other Premier League side last season, and Sterling’s arrival gives reason to believe they could become even more dangerous in front of goal. Elsewhere, Fabian Delph gives them another option in central midfield, and you wouldn’t bet against more new arrivals at the Etihad Stadium before the transfer window shuts.
Phil Thompson's view: "There are still plenty of question marks hanging over this City team. Before the summer I always said that it was guaranteed that Sterling was going to end up there as they needed to get their English quota. Sterling is a good player but it’s mainly potential right now. Delph is also a good player but needs to stay clear of injuries.
"The biggest area for me is still defence. They’ve for a great goalkeeper and Vincent Kompany was, for me, the best defender in Europe before last season. Their defensive issues are the difference between them and Chelsea but the problem is there’s a lack of quality of centre-backs out there for them to bring in. Yaya Toure also needs to be more consistent after only showing it in glimpses last season."
Phil Thompson's one to watch: "David Silva. Losing Jovetic and possibly (Edin) Dzeko leaves them short despite (Wilfried) Bony arriving and puts a lot of pressure on (Sergio) Aguero, who also needs to stay fit, but it’s Silva that is the most important player as he really makes the team tick."
Opta stats
- Last season, Manchester City finished as the top scoring team (83) in the Premier League for the third time in the last four campaigns.
- David Silva scored more league goals last season (12) than the previous two campaigns combined (11).
- In contrast to their city rivals Manchester United, the Citizens used just 24 players in the Premier League last season; a joint-low alongside Burnley.
