CITY will soon have more strikers than French air traffic control!

Even though the £25m deal to bring in Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o is unlikely to succeed, with City helpless to do anything about it, they could well secure Carlos Tevez as early as Wednesday meaning they will have TEN front-line strikers in a top-heavy squad.

Eto'o is expected to announce a decision on his future later today but the signs are looking bad for City.

“If there is not a 180-degree turnaround then he will stay with Barcelona,” Eto’o’s agent Josep Maria Mesalles told ONA FM on Monday evening. 

As City found out in their ill-fated pursuit of Kaka in January, the pitfalls and loopholes are endless in the business of buying footballers.

Lessons have clearly been learned from that embarrassment, as the stalking of Eto'o has been more studied and discreet.

The Blues have done all they can to secure the deal by agreeing a fee with the club, and making the player a big wage offer - which is believed to be in the region of £170,000 a week.

Tevez is more of a sure thing, though there are a few people in the City management team holding their breath and hoping there are no more twists in his salutary transfer tale.

Expires

The temporary deal struck between the Argentinian ace's `owner' Kia Joorabchian and United expires today, leaving him free to complete a £25.5m move to City.

The task for manager Mark Hughes now is to trim down an overflowing forward department.

Hughes' position will be straightforward - regardless of reputation, any and all new players will have to scrap it out for their place.

Every top club has at least four top-line strikers, and Craig Bellamy's first job is to ensure he is in that reckoning - and with Santa Cruz's recent injury history, he has every chance.

Beyond that, things look gloomier for the likes of Jo, Felipe Caicedo, Valeri Bojinov, Benjani, Ched Evans and Darius Vassell. Daniel Sturridge is expected to sign for Chelsea after his City contract expires today, to trim one name off the list.

The Blues will undoubtedly sell off several of those players, but - without financial worries - they are in no rush to recoup their huge outlay.

Panic

That means they will hang on to players as long as necessary in order to get the full market price and, traditionally, prices begin to rise as the big kick-off nears and clubs start to panic.

Jo has already been offered to Everton as part of the offer for England defender Joleon Lescott and Caicedo is making noises about a move to Sporting Lisbon.

The unfortunate Bojinov wants to stay and prove himself after two injury-wrecked seasons, but he will probably have to make way, with Wolfsburg top of the list of interested clubs.

Benjani is another one who wants to fight for his place but the club will listen to offers and Portsmouth, if they can sort out their messy takeover, want him back.

Evans has already been the subject of a rejected £1.5m bid from Sheffield United, but an improved offer from the Blades would probably clinch the deal.

Vassell is another whose current deal expires today - along with Danny Mills, Dietmar Hamann and Michael Ball, who will be seeking to stay in the Premier League.

Which strikers would you like to see at the club at the start of the season? Have your say.