Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini Reuters

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is reportedly targeting Napoli's Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani following the player's recent statements he may be leaving the Italian club in the summer, a Daily Mail report said. However, despite City's interest, Chelsea (who have long been monitoring his situation) are the favourites to land the forward, who is valued at £40 million.

"I don't know, the club will deal with this sort of thing. I am focused only on playing my football and winning every game. The club will think about the rest and they know what to do," the Daily Mail quoted Cavani as saying.

"I do not want to answer to the question about whether Cavani will stay or go. Edinson answered that Saturday and he was very clear, but everyone can interpret what he said the way they want," added Cavani's agent, adding, "For every player it is important to have the team's future very clear, but financial matters are also important. Napoli have a serious project and any player would like to be part of it. Cavani has a contract and he wants to respect it."

In addition to the forward, Mancini is reportedly also interested in Cheikhou Kouyate, a Senelagese defender who plays for Belgian club Anderlecht, according to the Sun.

The player has been valued at £5 million and has had a good season, making 43 appearances in all competitions. The 22 year old is reportedly keen on moving to the Premier League

"I've dreamed about playing in the Premier League since I was a kid. It's a very physical competition and so tailor-made for me," he said.

Apart from Cavani and Kouyate, Mancini has also reportedly shown interest in Inter Milan defender Andrea Ranocchia. According to a report in the Daily Mail, a deal may be possible if Serbian left-back Aleksandar Kolarov and Dutch midfielder Nigel de Jong move the other way.

Meanwhile, former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson, who is now global adviser for the Red Devils, said City's season could become a terrible failure if they failed to win the league title. Robson claims City, who spent huge amounts of money to sign players like Sergio Agüero and Samir Nasri, will be under tremendous pressure to win the title.

"There is more pressure on City to win the league than there is on United. With the money they have spent it will be a failure if they don't win it. It will mean they have not won a trophy this season and that has to go down as a bad season. United are in a period of transition and if they win the title it will have to go down as one of Sir Alex's greatest achievements," the Sun quoted Robson as saying.

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