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| Frustrated Figure: Santa Cruz |
Competition for first team places are tough to come by nowadays at Manchester City, as Roberto Mancini, backed by the billionaire owners, has always got his sights on new, top quality players to add to the already talented team.
This competition however, is proving too tough for Roque Santa Cruz, as he told a radio station that his intention is to leave Manchester City in January because of the lack of first team opportunities.
The South American striker said:
"Unfortunately I'm not playing as I'd like. The club has invested heavily, competition for places is great and I'm working every day to try and convince the coach ... but I'm still not getting picked. The situation is very complicated, I wanted to think well of it, but I'm not getting the playing time to convince anybody and my priority is to leave in the January transfer market.
"The coach has opted for certain players and on top of that his system plays with just the one striker, so I have even fewer options.
"I'm 29 years old and still hope to fulfill my dream of playing in Spain. It is the dream of most South American players, so let's see, hopefully it will happen. I wanted to play again because I'm not getting playing time here. My intention is to leave City in the January transfer window and I hope that it could be for the Spanish League."Since joining the club in 2009 for a fee of around £17.5 million from Blackburn, the former Bayern Munich star hasn't really been able to hold on to a first team place, and his form has suffered, thanks in no small part to injuries.
At 29 years of age he won't fetch much money in the transfer window. His lack of form has reduced the asking price considerably, and it doesn't seem likely that City will make a profit from him.
With billions of pounds to spend on a new replacement, and with strikers like Tevez, Adebayor, Balotelli and Jo still at the club, it also doesn't seem likely that the Eastlands club will miss him.
