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This summer has been a surprisingly quiet one at the Etihad. Since the Abu Dhabi United Group took over in 2008, Manchester City have forked out more than £400m on new talent, but with Jack Rodwell the only arrival since the end of last season, for a bargain-basement £15m, it looks as if Sheikh Mansour has put his wallet firmly back in his pocket. Are Roberto Mancini’s Sky Blues getting complacent after last year’s title win? Footballer-turned-journalist Adrian Clarke doesn’t think so.

“Stability is good for Man City, I see it as a positive,” says Adrian. “There hasn’t been a big turnover of players this summer, for once. They did pretty well last season – a team that’s growing and I can only see them improving this year with the same group of players and one or two additions.”

Despite the embarrassment of riches that meant City could afford to loan out players such as Emmanuel Adebayor to potential title rivals Tottenham Hotspur for the whole of last season, they are not the finished article just yet. “In midfield they need a bit more creativity,” adds Adrian. “Perhaps some younger legs, and they also need more cover at centre-back, but elsewhere around that team they’ve got two excellent players in every position. There’s not a lot wrong.”

Watch the full video discussion by clicking on the play button in the image above. 

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