Bianchi joins Torino

The Club has tonight confirmed that Rolando Bianchi has left Manchester City to join Torino on a five-year deal.

The Italian striker was Sven-Goran Eriksson's first signing last summer and despite scoring the Blues' first goal of the season at Upton Park last August, by January he had fallen out of favour and went back to Serie A to join Lazio on loan until the end of the season.

The official Torino website this evening reported: "Torino are pleased to announce they have permanently signed the footballer Rolando Bianchi from Manchester City.

"The striker has signed a five-year contract.

"Tonight, a few minutes before the start of Torino versus Brescia, Rolando will greet the Granata fans together with president Urbano Cairo.

"The official presentation to the press will happen during next week."

>>mcfc.co.uk

And so officially ends a City career that started off with so much promise.

Bianchi arrived much-hyped as Sven's first signing on the back of a succesful Serie A season for Reggina and enjoyed a goal scoring debut at West Ham, but appeared to fall foul of Sven early in the season and was jettisoned for the most part with Mpenza often trusted as the lone man in the 4-5-1 formation.

A loan spell at Lazio was set to result in a permanent move during the summer but his option was not picked up and he returned to the club after a far more stellar six months at The Stadio Olimpico.

Although he featured in a couple of pre-season games, he departs a well trodden path of players who have arrived in the Premier League from Serie A with much fanfare, only to exit without success - with strikers in particular prone to struggles.

Perhaps Bianchi was too young when he arrived at the club, or perhaps the strong season he had prior to joining us was not an indication of his true talent but I'm sure most fans will feel a degree of frustration that his City career panned out in such a manner, and he now has plenty to prove as he tries to pick up his career at the Granata.

The bonus with the deal of course is that it is a permanent move, and the fee (unconfirmed, but believed to be around £5 million) and saving on wages can no doubt be put to good use over the next week as Mark Hughes seeks to make further additions to the squad ahead of the transfer deadline - with the reports linking Thiago Neves growing ever stronger.

Transfer rumours gather pace

After it seemed that the Corluka stories had died down and he would perhaps remain a City player, rumours gathered apace yesterday (Saturday) morning as some newspaper reports suggested that the move to Tottenham would be completed prior to the season starting, and more fuel was added to the fire when it was reported that he did not feature in the team photograph, and was then left out the side for the final pre-season game against Milan.

It does seem inevitable that Corluka is on his way, and it is disappointing news given the impressive season he had last campaign and at 22 years of age, has plenty of upside ahead of him. However, the current financial situation at the club does appear such that at the very least we need to trim the wage bill and by a strange quirk, we have to sell Corluka in order to actually finish paying for him.

Given the quality we have in defence - and this season it appears that Ben Haim is set to partner Dunne in the centre with Richards at right back, Corluka to a degree does become expendable and if we have to sell then better it be a player such as that than an enforced sale such as Richards, Petrov or Elano which would the side far more.

Having said that, it is a sad state that we find ourself in if finances are such that we are being forced into sanctioning a couple of sales to balance the books, and is something that the press are beginning to prick their ears up about as they sniff around for a headline or two.

Another player who could be on his way is Stephen Ireland. Rumours linking him to Sunderland again surfaced this weekend - partly like the Corluka scenario where it is a player who could be expendable but perhaps also because Mark Hughes does not see him fitting into the side, and he was again left out of the side yesterday (with TV later indicating he was initially told to stay away from the game).

Ireland for me is an undoubted talent - despite all his quirks and slightly odd behaviour, and whilst his progress has been somewhat steady, I do believe that given his still young age he has plenty ahead of him and whilst £5 million may well be a decent return, further ahead we could look back on a sale with a great deal of regret.

One player who appears to be staying though (for now at least) is Rolando Bianchi. The club turned down a bid from Torino which would see him move to Turin on loan with a £2 million option at the end of the season. Rumours now link him with a potential move to Genoa as it seems inevitable that he will not be with his this season and I think the only reason a move has not gone through so far is that we are trying to recoup as much of our initial outlay back for him.

An interesting week all in all then as instead of new arrivals coming into the club with season just around the corner, we are having to face the prospect of players heading out of the exit door. Not an ideal start, and with the political and financial problems for our owner ever increasing, it is with a sense of aprehension that we head towards the season with.

Bianchi makes an immediate impression

...Bianchi made his debut for Lazio, just days after Torino furiously claimed he had promised to join them. Within 30 seconds he had hacked down Nikola Lazetic and received a booking.

Pandev missed an incredible opportunity moments later, his free header from a De Silvestri cross nodded on to the frame of the goal.

Incredibly, five minutes into his Biancocelesti debut, Bianchi was sent off for another yellow card, jumping with his elbow up on Paolo Zanetti.

>> channel4.co.uk

Bianchi departs a well trodden path

Rolando Bianchi has gone on loan to Lazio until the end of the season, with a view to joining the Rome club on a permanent deal afterwards.

The 24-year-old has struggled to adapt to the Premier League since arriving from Reggina last July, scoring four goals in 19 league appearances for the Blues.

The Biancocelesti currently lie in 14th place in Serie A just two points above the drop zone, and Bianchi is expected to go straight into their squad for this Sunday’s game against Torino.

>>mcfc.co.uk

I've been mulling this one over for most of the day, and I'm still struggling to fathom out the reason(s) behind this move - and I'm sure I'm not alone.

When you look back over Bianchi's brief career at the club, it certainly won't be thought of in the same terms as a failure like some other young Italian strikers who have not fared well following the transition from Serie A to Premier League, but there is on overwhelming sense of disappointment or unfullfilment about it.

Despite stories of unimpressive training ground performances, you have to take it at face value I guess and perhaps him not settling (like many Italians before him) in this country is a genuine and plausible reason for his departure. There has been no comment from the club bar the brief release above, and Bianchi has been anything but critical - talking about the club in glowing terms and being thankful for the opportunity he had.

It is all a far cry now from when he arrived as one of the first signings Sven made, and arrived on the back of a good season in Serie A and started well, scoring on his debut at West Ham but he was quickly jettisoned in favour of Emile Mpenza and apart from a brief spell around Christmas, never got back into the team - despite the backing of the fans, but Sven remained resolute that he had a future at the club.

It is clear that he never really found favour with Sven though, and this must be a fact borne out of the continued absence of him in the side, even moreso given the lack of success and options in that department - and he joins an ever growing list of players who have arrived from Serie A with a big reputation and for a variety of reasons have failed in the Premier League.

The only saving grace appears to be th fact that we will recruit virtually all of the near £9 million we paid out to Reggina to sign him in the first place.

But, he has moved on and is his departure perhaps a reason why the Samaras to Birmingham move 'stalled' as Alec McLeish suggested? There have of course been plenty of links to strikers throughout the transfer window today, with strong rumours linking Seville forward Fabiano with a move this morning, only for cold water to be poured on these later in the day, and lets not forget the succesful return of Daniel Sturridge this week from injury, with Hans Backe's comments indicating it may not be long before he features in the side either.

City 4 Bolton 2

A ninth straight home win for city in an entertaining game which saw the blues lose a lead and then come from behind to keep the fantastic home record intact and move back into 4th place.

City drew first blood through the impressive Rolando Bianchi, who gave the best performance from a centre forward for city season. A slip from Gardener let in Vassell who squared to the ever impressive Michael Johnson, who cleverly played in the Italian to finish from six yards.
City then backed off the pace and allowed Bolton to come into the game, and mistakes from both Dunne and Corluka resulted in well crafted and well finished goals from the ever despicable spit the dog and Kevin Nolan, who in my opinion was lucky to see the match out with at least three second half yellow card offences going unpunished.

2-1 down at half time with Bolton in the ascendancy and thoughts of Gareth Southgates damming verdict on svens half-time motivational speeches crept in.

Not to worry as it appears Sven did the 'fight them on the beaches' speech and we blew Bolton away with a second half performance that yielded 3 unanswered goals with and own goal (might be hammans?) Vassell and Kelvin Etuhu netting his first senior goal for the club. Add into that at least two late gilt edged chances as Bolton, to their credit, pushed right up.

Megson whined on the radio about mistakes and them matching us blow for blow, well his facts were sadly incorrect (see the sky report) whilst he managed to neglect to mention both their goals came from our mistakes. I really do hope Bolton go down.

Spurs in the cup on Tuesday and hopefully a tenth straight home win, Elano back fit with a bit of luck, the ink dried on the Nery Castillo loan deal and i think we can maybe say it's been a good week ??

No excuses, a call to arms for all blues get down and back the lads on tuesday night.

Bianchi linked with early exit

Out-of-favour Manchester City striker Rolando Bianchi has revealed he will consider his position at the club in December. The Italian, who was Sven Goran Eriksson's first signing as City boss, is frustrated at his lack of first team action.

Bianchi has started only three of the team's nine Premier League games so far with Emile Mpenza Eriksson's preferred option in attack.

The former Reggina hit-man has indicated he could well move on in the January transfer window if his situation at Eastlands does not improve.

"I'm not used to being left out of the side and we will have to see what happens," Bianchi told Corriere dello Sport.

"Eriksson has explained that he wants a faster striker and he seems to have been proven right by the results, but Manchester City is a test I will succeed in.

"I have set a reasonable deadline of December for things to change and then we will have to consider options as I don't like playing five or 10 minutes of games." -Sky Sports

Typically, The Mirror translated this into part of a 'Angry Blues set to quit' headline, and the rest of the press have picked up the comments - all coming in the wake of the 'Owen to City' stories.

I don't think Bianchi's comments were either a threat or a true intention to leave, more the words of a frustrated player who is looking to get more minutes on the pitch than he is doing.

I still maintain it is a surprise that Bianchi has fallen a little out of favour, as particularly with the injury to Bojinov it left us thin up front and he had certainly impressed in the early games notching a couple of goals and talked about how well he was settling in both at the club and in England following his move.

However, Eriksson has favoured Emile Mpenza since the first month of the season as we have stuck with the lone man up front policy, and recent results do back up the tactic so it is likely that Bianchi's frustration is set to continue.

Carlstad United 0 City 4

The brief tour of Sweden ended on a succesful note with City completing a winning double with a win earlier, and again saw Rolando Bianchi and Bernardo Corradi on the scoresheet in a 4-0 victory.

Whilst not a second string side, there were opportunities for the likes of Hart, Dabo, both Mills defenders and Hamman to try and impress the new boss but Bianchi will probably grab the headlines with a brace to boost his confidence as he begins life as a City player.

Bianchi to make first start

Rolando Bianchi will make his first start for the club in tonights' friendly against Örgyte IS, partnering Emile Mpenza in attack, whilst Gelson Fernandes will also be making his debut.

Youngster Shaleum Logan gets a nod in midfield in a side which looks to be the most likely 'full-strength' line-up (Geovanni not including) depending on whether any more re-inforcements arrive at the club between now and opening day kick-off.

Team: Isaksson, Richards, Dunne (c), Onuoha, Ball, Logan, Fernandes, Johnson, Ireland, Mpenza, Bianchi.
Subs: Hart, Schmeichel, D Mills, M Mills, Dabo, Miller, Hamann, Laird, Dickov, Samaras, Corradi, Vassell.

Sven makes swoop number two - Gelson Fernandes

Sven has moved quickly after the signing of Rolando Bianchi by adding 20 year old Switzerland U21 captain Gelson Fernandes.

The midfielder has joined from swiss club FC Sion, again the fee is undisclosed.

Despite been linked with over 50 players by the press, they appear to have missed both signings until confirmed by one of the clubs. Tossers.

Anybody got any footage or know about this guy ? Leave it in the comments section.

Rolando starts the revolution.

Sven starts his Manchester City spending spree with the signing of Rolando Bianchi , the fee has been left undisclosed but is believed to be about 8.8 million.

The striker who scored an impressive 18 times for Reggina in Serie A last season stated that it was the involvement of Sven and his exciting plans for Manchester City that swung him towards Eastlands.

Meanwhile city are understood to have joined the race for Porto skipper Lucho Gonzalez. Gonzalez is currently playing for Argentina in the Copa America will command a fee of no less than 13.5 million.

And too think not so long ago we couldn't raise the 300k to get Craig Hignett !!

Bianchi deal 'done'

"Mr Eriksson called me personally and told me he wanted me
at any cost. He told me 'come and we will be watched by 50,000 fans every
Saturday and we want to be in Europe'.
"When he just mentioned the word
Europe, I had a big feeling. Nothing was moving in Italy so I had to take this
chance".

-Goal.com
Earlier reports of him signing appear to have been a little premature, and was probably a case of his club (Reggina) jumping the gun a little but the club have confirmed the deal on the website earlier today. The move will occur too late for him to feature in the opening pre-season game at Doncaster, but he should make his debut before too long.


It should be interesting from the current squad who Eriksson will look to pair with him, but it is disappointing that Daniel Sturridge has had an injury setback and likely will miss the trip to Sweden.

Bianchi set to be Eriksson's first signing

Reggina striker Rolando Bianchi is poised to become
Sven-Goran Eriksson's first signing at Manchester City, the Italian club said on
Tuesday.
The 24-year-old scored 18 league goals last season as the Serie A
side avoided relegation despite an 11-point penalty for their role in Italy's
match-fixing scandal.
"We have reached a preliminary agreement with
Manchester City for the permanent transfer of Rolando Bianchi... in a 13 million
euro (8.8 million pounds) transfer deal," Reggina president Pasquale Foti was
quoted as saying by British and Italian media. "The deal will be completed on
Wednesday."

-Reuters, Milan.


Although City have declined to confirm the reports so far, it does seem certain that Bianchi will arrive at the club to become the first signing of the new regime and it looks to be an interesting one.


Bianchi had an exceptional season last time around and finished fourth in the race to be Capocanieri in Serie A, notching 18 goals in 37 appearances for a struggling Reggina side. He is twenty-four years of age so should be entering his prime years as a striker and shouldn't experience the growing pains as evidenced by Giorgios Samaras during his time at the club.


On the flipside though is ultimately strikers will be judged solely on goals, and Italian strikers do not in general have a great pedigree with names such as Grabbi and Maccarone having flopped after arriving in the Premier League at a young age.


Undoubtedly Eriksson though will have seen plenty of football during the year he was out of the game, and despite the funds available will not simply be throwing money at every player out there.


As pre-season begins to draw ever nearer, I'd expect that Bianchi would be the first of a series of Eriksson's recruits to arrive at the club.