Mancini demands unhappiness among inactive players

Mancini has bolstered his already-considerable forward line with the club record £38m signing of Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid during the current transfer window, and a deal for Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri is thought to be nearing conclusion.

The Italian also has big-money acquisitions David Silva, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko at his disposal, while Aguero’s fellow Argentina international Carlos Tevez remains with City despite expressing his desire to leave this summer.

The competition for a starting berth looks set to be fierce and Mancini knows it may not be easy to keep all his stars happy.

“Silva, Tevez, Aguero, Dzeko, Balotelli – it is difficult,” Mancini said. “I think probably during the games there will be some moments when we can try to put all these players on the pitch.

“But it is difficult and we have to have a good balance for the team.”

He added: “All these players are professionals and it is important that they are not happy when they don’t play.

“If there is a player who is happy when he doesn’t play, this is not good. They must be ready.”

With discussions between City and Arsenal believed to have been going on for some time, it had been expected Nasri might be confirmed as a Blues player this week.

No such announcement has been made as yet, but Mancini – whose side face Bolton in the Barclays Premier League tomorrow – wants to see the transfer wrapped up swiftly.

“I hope we can close it very quickly now, but I don’t know the last news about him because my concentration is on the game,” Mancini said.”

Asked why there may have been a delay in proceedings, Mancini said: “I don’t know – this is not my job. I don’t know why, but it is probably because Nasri is a good player, or because there is some problem.”

One player who seems certain to depart City is Emmanuel Adebayor. Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp this week revealed the London outfit were in talks with the Blues about a move for Adebayor, although Mancini would only say yesterday that it was “possible” the striker was about to be sold.

Meanwhile, Tevez could be set to make his first appearance of the season for City in this weekend’s game at the Reebok Stadium.

After a fraught summer, during which he handed in an official transfer request and was unsuccessfully pursued by his former club Corinthians, Tevez returned to training with the Blues last week.

Inter Milan have been linked with the 27-year-old, but it appears no further bids have been forthcoming.

He did not feature in Monday’s 4-0 win over Swansea at the Etihad Stadium, but Mancini has already made it clear he would be happy for Tevez to stay and will consider him for the game tomorrow.