Roberto Mancini asked Manchester City for a show of faith

The Italian has been rewarded for securing the Premier League title with a lucrative new contract at the Etihad Stadium and looks set to take the club onto even greater heights

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COMMENT
By Greg Stobart

If Roberto Mancini asked Manchester City for a show of faith, he certainly got it in the five-year contract announced by the club on Monday.

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City have made Mancini the highest paid manager in England on a salary reportedly worth £7.5 million-a-year, and in the process the Abu Dhabi owners have nominated the Italian as the man to lead the club’s charge for global domination.

Mancini's future was uncertain as recently as April, when a poor run of form saw City fall behind rivals Manchester United at the summit of the Premier League. The 47-year-old, however, managed to turn the tide to steer City to an historic first title since 1968.

That was just the start, the platform from which to build a dynasty in east Manchester.

MANCINI'S NEW DEAL

Manchester City boss quashes Russia rumours with five-year contract

Reports of an approach from the Russian FA may have strengthened Mancini's negotiating hand with the City hierarchy, but there was never any chance that he would walk away from such an ambitious project.

Sheikh Mansour has already spent £1 billion on City, and he wants more return than one Premier League title, as glorious as that title triumph was for supporters who waited 44 years, most of them in the shadow of their bitter rivals.

The fact that it took four years of eye-watering investment to win the title shows that success takes time in modern football, but City want to build an empire, to create a history to challenge that of United.

Mancini is the man to do it, having proved since his appointment in December 2009 his ability to handle erratic and explosive players, the likes of Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli, and to build a team spirit within the camp. The Italian has brought together all of the egos and got them pulling in the right direction.

THE ITALIAN JOB
MMANCINI'S RECORD AT MAN CITY
GAMES PLAYED WON DRAWN LOST WIN PERCENTAGE	141 85 26 30 60%

The next target for City is the Champions League, where they floundered at the group stage this season. As the best team in the self-proclaimed best league in the world, they will fancy their chances of pushing for European honours in the next two years.

They face enough of a challenge domestically to fend off the likes of United, while Chelsea and Arsenal will surely improve.

But the core of the squad is in place, with a substitutes bench most weeks that would be the envy of Europe, and a young core of top class players such as Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Mario Balotelli.

Mancini is a fiery, demanding character and has not always had the best of relationships with some senior City officials, especially football administration officer Brian Marwood.

But those within the club recognise that Mancini's irascible nature is all part of the winning mentality that he has developed within the squad, brought to a club known as the kings of shooting themselves in the foot. Joe Royle, their former manager, called it 'Cityitis'.

Mancini is impatient. He cares little for financial fair play - a major consideration within the Etihad Stadium this summer after losses of £197m in their last accounts - and is frustrated that the club is not pushing through with a move for Arsenal captain Robin van Persie.

	FILLING THE TROPHY CABINET
5/1	Manchester City are 5/1 with Sportingbet to win the FA Cup in 2012-13

The truth is that the likes of Edin Dzeko and Emmanuel Adebayor need to depart before City can make a move for van Persie - last season's double player of the year - who they are ready to pay £198,000-a-week.

The major disappointment for City last season was their failure in the Champions League, where they failed to progress out of a difficult group that included Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal.

The coming season will require both the players and Mancini to draw on the club's debut season in Europe's elite competition, but they have the squad to genuinely challenge for Champions League glory.

They also have the manager. And he has left plenty of room in his trophy cabinet for the next five years.

Liverpool target Fabio Borini has unfinished business in England

Just a year after parting company with Chelsea, following a successful loan spell at Swansea, the Italy international is reportedly on the verge of joining Liverpool

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COMMENT
By Mark Doyle

While his former Swansea team-mates were still celebrating their Championship play-off final success over Reading in 2011, Fabio Borini was carefully considering his future.

The on-loan Chelsea forward had played a key role in the Welsh side's promotion to the Premier League, but he had a difficult decision to make: remain at the Liberty Stadium or seek out a return to his native Italy.

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Borini had thoroughly enjoyed his time in Swansea up until that point. He was touched by the way in which supporters had stopped him in Sainsbury's and urged him to stay. He had again flourished under the tutelage of former Chelsea youth team coach Brendan Rodgers.

However, after a couple of hours of deliberation, Borini ultimately decided the best thing for his career would be to go home. He had let his head rule his heart. Just as he has always done. This is a player who has never let emotion cloud his judgement; never allowed sentiment to get in the way of his ambition; never permitted the opinions of others to affect his self-belief.

BORINI'S CAREER STATS
Club Chelsea (Jun 07-Jul 11) Swansea (loan) (Mar 11-May 11) Parma (Jul 11-Aug 11) Roma (Aug 11-Present)	League Apps 4 9 0 24	Goals 0 6 0 9

"I just think about playing and giving everything I have," he explained earlier this year. "I do not read the newspapers or listen to the radio. I have created a bubble in which I isolate myself, thinking only of my profession."

Indeed, it is no coincidence that when it comes to assessing Borini's attributes as a player, nearly every single coach who has worked with him feels compelled to mention his attitude.

"He has ambition and the right mentality," former Italy Under-21 boss Ciro Ferrara enthused while championing the player's cause for inclusion in Cesare Prandelli's squad for Euro 2012.

It was ambition that convinced the 16-year-old Borini to leave Bologna for Chelsea in 2007, and it was mental strength that got him through what followed.

After being added to the Blues' first-team squad in 2009, the Bentivoglio native was afforded just four Premier League outings before being sent back to the reserve team. Such a setback would have rocked the confidence of most youngsters, but not Borini, who responded with 14 goals in eight games for Chelsea's second string.

However, his remarkable resilience and obvious goalscoring prowess were not enough to persuade Chelsea to hold on to the teenager and he was allowed to join Championship outfit Swansea on March 17 of last year, just 12 days shy of his 20th birthday.

Having worked with the forward during his time at Stamford Bridge, Rodgers was in no doubt that he had acquired a player capable of aiding the club's promotion push and his faith in his former protege was fully vindicated as Borini netted six times in nine games before the end of the regular season.

Borini's form piqued the interest of several Serie A sides and he ultimately decided that he would be better served by a return to Italy. "Maybe it's a missed opportunity not playing in the Premier League, but maybe this is a good thing for my career and will make me stronger," he mused at the time.

Borini was right on both counts. Although he signed for Parma, he was immediately loaned to Roma and the forward flourished at the Stadio Olimpico, which was hardly surprising. In leaving Rodgers' Swansea for Luis Enrique’s Giallorossi, he had swapped one passing side led by an innovative young coach for another.

Borini proved the revelation of Roma's season, the one consistent performer in a team in a constant state of flux. A scintillating mix of pace, power and predatory instincts, his dynamic displays saw him effectively take Mario Balotelli’s place in the Italy squad for February's friendly against United States in Genoa.

The Azzurri were beaten on the night but Borini's stirring second-half cameo was the one bright spot on an otherwise dismal performance from the home side. Indeed, it effectively earned the youngster a place in Italy's Euro 2012 squad.

Instant impact | Borini drew praise for his display against the US in February

Borini, of course, did not see any action in Poland and Ukraine but after nine goals in an injury-interrupted debut season in Serie A, he had already underlined his status as one of Italy's most exciting young prospects. Luis Enrique was enamoured by not only the attacker's ability but also his application: "Fabio Borini always gives 100 per cent, even when he's asleep!"

While the Spanish coach subsequently quit the Italian capital, Roma were understandably desperate to hold on to him, having agreed a co-ownership deal with Parma during the January transfer window. As Giallorossi director Walter Sabatini stated in March: "Borini is pure power."

However, he also harbours a burning ambition. Hence, the willingness to join Liverpool just a couple of months after professing his desire to remain in Rome. Rodgers' influence has obviously been key, but just as significant is Borini's feeling that he has unfinished business in England.

Borini is pure power - Gaillorossi director Walter Sabatini

"Maybe I can come back to the Premier League later in my career," he explained upon leaving Swansea last summer.

Borini is now poised to get what he wanted even sooner than he might have expected. But that will not faze him. Nothing ever does.

Eljero Elia is one step closer to leaving Juventus

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Eljero Elia is one step closer to leaving Juventus for Werder Bremen after the winger completed a medical on Sunday.

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The Netherlands international is desperate to leave the Serie A champions after a frustrating 2011-12 campaign, and a return to the Bundesliga now appears to be imminent for the tricky wideman.

"[Elia] has undergone his medical, but there won't be time to sign his contract today," Werder director Klaus Allofs stated to Bild.

Elia, 25, joined Juventus from Hamburg in the summer of 2011, but was unable to secure regular first-team action at the Old Lady, making just four appearances under Antonio Conte.

Bremen will reportedly pay a fee in the region of €5.5 million for the former Twente star, who is expected to sign a contract until June 2016 on Monday.