Mancini downplays talk of De Rossi signing

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is not confident of luring Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi to the Etihad Stadium.

De Rossi, who is out of contract at the Serie A club at the end of the season, has been linked with City but Mancini thinks it will be difficult to tempt the midfielder away from the Italian capital.

“I don’t think it will happen, because De Rossi was born in Rome and it’s unlikely that he’ll leave the city,” Mancini said.

The Italian revealed fears January’s Africa Cup of Nations – and the departure of Ivorian brothers Kolo and Yaya Toure – could cause his squad problems.

“This could be a problem in January because we also lose Yaya and it will be a big problem for us if we get any injuries,” Mancini said.

“This is football and sometimes it can happen. For this reason January is going to be very important for us.”

A need to conform with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations could halt any significant spending in the January transfer window, with Mancini insisting the club must sell before they look at adding to their squad.

“I asked the owner (Sheikh Mansour) for Lionel Messi but it’s not possible,” he joked.

“We need to sell two or three players and then we’ll see. We want to sell first and after that we may have time to buy someone if it’s possible. ”

“But it’s not easy. There are players that could be good for us but every time we want to buy a player their clubs ask for lots of money.”

Mancini said he was pleased with the fact his side are on top of the Premier League at Christmas, but warned his men against complacency.

“It’s a good omen to be top at Christmas but it would be a better omen if United lost their next three games,” he said.

“I’ve told the guys it’s possible we could drop to second for three or four games in the New Year and maybe go one or two points behind United.”

“But it won’t change anything. We know that United have to play many difficult away games and we can recover points in those moments.”

“I think we’ve got more chance if we have that attitude.”