There is still a week to go before the Community Shield is over, and the first round of the Premier League is still under, but City's recruitment is not over.

Just two days after winning the Community Shield, Manchester City officially announced that they had bought young French midfielder Blaise Matuidi from Ligue 1 club Saint-Etienne, with no official information revealing how much the transfer fee would be.

But the media were quick to give an answer.

Seven million euros.

That's how the young midfielder, who is just 22 years old, arrived at Manchester City.

However, most of the media reaction was:

“…… Manchester City spent seven million to buy a nobody, they really have a lot of money and nowhere to spend! ”

"Blaise Matuidi? Who is he? Why is it worth seven million euros? ”

"Manchester City have money, so they are entitled to squander in the transfer market, even if Matuidi's table is not good, seven million euros are wasted, Manchester City probably won't blink an eye......"

"Matuidi's agent is very resourceful and was able to sell this player for so much money......"

……

For the English media, most people don't know much about Matuidi and nothing about the young black player.

Only some French media have expressed their best wishes for Matuidi, believing that the talented young man can make his mark at Manchester City.

The English media don't know much about Matuidi, but Benitez does, and the youngster, who now looks like he has a bad reputation, is a good defender in midfield.

From the 2005-2006 season, he played in Ligue 1, first in Troyes and later for four million euros to Saint-Etienne.

It has always been a workhorse.

Such a player is not a person without ability.

Matuidi has the qualities of a black player and stands out for his physique, which is very important as a midfielder because he has to run all the way around the pitch, from one penalty area to another, from the left side of the pitch to the right side.

Matuidi is a great runner and can be seen at both ends of the pitch, and he also has some ability to get involved in the back row.

To put it simply, in French football, Matuidi has a nickname - "The New Makellele".

Just by looking at this nickname, everyone should know the characteristics and abilities of Matuidi.

To be able to have a new Makelele, Benitez feels that seven million euros is a great deal.

His purchase of Matuidi had also been planned for a long time, but the negotiations with Saint-Etienne were painful, with the French club opening their mouths and the two sides haggling back and forth. An agreement was finally reached on a transfer fee of 7 million euros, and Saint-Etienne also demanded that 25 per cent of the transfer fee go to Saint-Etienne if Manchester City were to sell Matuidi in the future.

In order to win Matuidi, Manchester City can be regarded as paying a big price.

With the acquisition of Matuidi, Benitez also completed the final step of his midfield rebuild.

In his plan, Matuidi will specialise in defence, partnering Gareth Barry in the back, Sneijder up front, and then Glory, Robinho and Berbatov up front.

This is with David Silva temporarily unavailable.

When David Silva is available, we will see who is in better form, and then let him play.

As a result, there is no trace of last season in Manchester City's midfield.

The entire midfield was replaced.

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After buying Matuidi, Manchester City also continued to search for targets in the transfer market.

Rafael Benitez thinks the team's bench is a little weak, and although it looks like there are a lot of people, there are not many people who can use it.

He's sold a lot of people this summer, and he's got rid of all the players he thinks are useless.

Now in the position of center forward, there are Berbatov and Sturridge, only these two people, obviously not enough, because this season, Manchester City has to fight in the Champions League and the domestic league on two fronts, if there are two center forwards, if someone is injured, then there will be no substitutes.

That's why you have to buy a center.

Rafa Benitez finally selected the centre-forward Derdiyock who plays for Basel Switzerland, a 1.90-meter-tall centre-forward with height and skill at his feet, and his savings can give Manchester City more options in attack.

In addition to the centre-forwards, Manchester City also appear to be a little less staffed at centre-back.

Now it's just Dunn. Lucio and Kompany are the three true centre-backs, with Richards available as a cameo centre-back, but more often than not, he is a right-back.

Therefore, Benitez also has to buy a central defender.

He has his eye on Villarreal's main centre-back, Uruguay international Diego Godin.

Godin's only problem is that he could be expensive, as Villarreal won't be able to let go of their main centre-backs so much more money will have to spend more. But this is not a problem at all for the deep-pocketed Manchester City.

In the end, Manchester City spent 13 million euros to bring Godin from the "yellow submarine" to the "blue moon".

These acquisitions were made before the start of the first league game, as Benitez sought to give them more time to integrate into the squad.

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On 15 August, the first round of the 2009-2010 Premier League season officially kicked off.

The opening game was Chelsea's home game against Hull City.

The game ended with Chelsea beating Hull City 2-1.

Later, the teams of the Premier League appeared one after another.

Manchester City's first game was also among them, as they took on Blackburn Rovers away.

It was also Sneijder's first competitive game for Manchester City.

In this game, Manchester City fielded the strongest squad they could field.

After Sneijder came on, Manchester City's attack was suddenly different again.

His playmaking and playmaking in midfield is unmatched by Elano.

With him, City's attack is much more organized.

But what people are most concerned about is whether there will be some sparks between him and Glory.

Glory is the heart of Manchester City's attack, and Sneijder is the heart of the organization.

The two cores are competing in the same field and fighting side by side, what can they come up with?

The answer was revealed at the thirty-third minute.

After receiving the ball in midfield, Sneijder turned and brushed past the Blackburn Rovers who had swooped too hard.

Then he almost didn't look at it, and directly sent a straight stopper!

At the same time, Rongguang suddenly cut inside from the side, rushed into the gap, received this through ball from Sneijder in the penalty area, and then shot directly with his right foot without stopping the ball!

The ball scurried between former England international Robinson and the post, and Robinson only had time to make a save - it was too close, the power of the glory shot was too great, and the speed of the ball was too fast, it was normal for him not to react......

“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG！！！ He scored his first league goal of the new season for Manchester City! ”

"Sneijder's assist! This was Sneijder's first game for Manchester City, and he contributed an assist! Manchester City finally have a real organizational core! ”

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After the goal, Glory turned and ran towards Sneijder, who stood there with his arms outstretched, waiting for him.

Glory ran over, the two of them hugged each other, and the other Manchester City players also rushed up to surround the two of them.

The Manchester City fans in the stands sang "Song of Glory", and the joy from the heart welled up with the song.

They are now very sure that Manchester City are indeed getting stronger!

If it continues, Manchester City will become a force to be reckoned with in English football, and maybe even be able to watch the league title!

※※※

In the first half, relying on this goal of glory, Manchester City took a one-goal lead.

In the second half, the two sides changed places and fought again, and this time it was the turn of Glory to return the favor.

He broke through with the ball, and after attracting three Blackburn players to defend him, he slammed the football out, but he didn't simply pass to the goal, but passed an inverted triangle, which was a bit unexpected by the Blackburn defenders, who were either chasing and blocking the glory, or guarding Berbatov in front of the goal, no one expected that the glory, who had almost broken through to the bottom line, would pass the football outside the penalty area.

Because Blackburn's players were all compressed in the penalty area by the glorious breakthrough, there was no one at the top of the penalty arc outside the penalty area.

Sneijder has a long-range shot!

His shot sent the ball flying past the dense crowd of Blackburn players in the box, and Blackburn's goalkeeper Robinson couldn't reach it, and although he pounced on the football, Sneijder's shot was too fast and he was still some distance from the football......

And just like that, the ball went headlong into the net!

"Sneijder-!! Ned!! Manchester City lead Blackburn Rovers 2-0! Just joined Manchester City, in the first official game, he scored! An assist, a goal, what could have been a better debut? Sneijder made Manchester City fans love him as quickly as he could! ”

Sneijder was excited after the goal, but he didn't forget to thank him for the assist, he ran to the glory, and the two hugged again.

Benitez saw the scene from the sidelines and had a smile on his face.

He is not happy because the team is two goals ahead of the opponent, which is right, he is happy because Glory and Sneijder have a tacit understanding, cooperate very well, and the relationship seems to be good.

In this way, he can rest assured that the attacking core and the organizational core are close and cooperative, and Manchester City's results are not far behind.

He has confidence in City's results this season and in the next few seasons.

With Sneijder, Manchester City's playmaker has been found, and with a good playmaker, the glory can be maximized.

Although Rongguang can also pass and assist, he is not an organizer after all, it is a waste to let him retreat to the midfield to play the organizer, what he wants to use is Rongguang's offensive ability, let him be like a sharp knife, straight into the opponent's heart!

After you go in, stir it up again, and God won't save you!