Santa Cruz keen on City move

"Manchester City is a team that has financial support and is getting prepared to win the title," said Santa Cruz. "I am very happy at Blackburn but I like the idea of playing for a team that will be fighting for such important objectives. I will keep on doing what I do at Blackburn but if the coach of Manchester City is interested in me I would like to join Robinho in that team. He is a wonderful player and I would like to play next to him."

>>guardian.co.uk

Hardly a tacit admission from Santa Cruz (expect a 'out of context' or 'lost in translation' announcement anytime soon) and he couldn't have posted a clearer 'come and get me' message.

Hughes clearly knows the player well and it was believed we had a bid turned down for him in August, but I do wonder if, with the financial clout we now have behind us, if Santa Cruz is the right player for us.

On the one hand, his record in the Premier League is good and he should definitely bring goals in our line-up, but to counter this, the end of his time at Bayern was not good and he was more or less run out of Munich with not many sides seemingly willing to take a chance on him.

One area we won't be short of potential candidates is in attack - and we will certainly add quality in this area. Santa Cruz certainly won't be the last name linked with us, but I would say that he may be the most likely to arrive in January.

UPDATE: And here comes the denial.