Top players win titles.. and Samir Nasri is one of 'em, says Gareth Barry

Posted Wednesday, August 24, 2011 by The Sun

GARETH BARRY believes the arrival of Samir Nasri will give a major boost to Manchester City's quest for silverware.

Arsenal's French midfielder was last night on the brink of signing a £22million deal at the Etihad.

And Barry reckons the 24-year-old is another top-quality signing to add to Roberto Mancini's wealth of midfield options.

He also predicted Nasri may not be the last new arrival, with the City boss last night admitting he would love to sign Roma's Daniele de Rossi.

But asked about Nasri, Barry said: "It's great. If you are going to win trophies you need fantastic players and he is another of them.

"Anyone of that quality who comes into our squad is going to help us."

Barry knows all about battling to get a starting place after more than a decade competing with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard for England.

He reckons City's players now face a similar scrap and may have to get used to spending time on the bench or in the stands.

Mancini currently has EIGHT midfielders to keep happy and some of them are going to end up being regularly disappointed.

Barry added: "I've not known anything like it before - maybe you could talk about the England squad, where it's full of great players and you find it tough to get your place.

"It's going to be one of those seasons at club level now.

"We just hope we can go far in all competitions.

"We might have to be patient sometimes if you're asked to miss out on certain games. We all realise we're not going to be able to play every game."

Despite the wealth of talent at Mancini's disposal, he still wants Sheikh Mansour to stump up for a new central midfielder.

The City board are likely to shut their wallet now, although a loan deal for a player who can fill the gap left by Patrick Vieira is being discussed.

Barry added: "It's something the manager has said, he's mentioned that Patrick has left and nobody has really come in.

"So he wants a new one to come in and we probably all realise that if he wants one he's probably going to get one! We'll be expecting someone else to come in before the end of the window."

Mancini's spending at City has now soared past the £210m mark - but he still does not appear satisfied.

And he has a new target in mind already in Italy midfielder De Rossi, 28.

The City boss said: "I need something else in midfield because we have limited options.

"I have Barry, De Jong, Milner and Toure - but if you consider the number of games in the league, the Champions League and the FA Cup that is not enough.

"Daniele de Rossi would be absolutely perfect for this team and I rate him as one of the best midfielders in the world.

"But I also have the suspicion that he will stay in Rome his entire career, just like Francesco Totti has done."

Mancini was known as The Artist during his playing career and he has perhaps surprising views on who could be given a similar nickname in today's game.

He said: "I loved my nickname because football is art.

"The modern artists are Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Silva and Yaya Toure.

"Yes, Toure is a GREAT player, he is a modern football artist."