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While there may be all sorts of uncertainty swirling around Eastlands just now, it looks as if Mark Hughes has come up trumps again in the transfer market.
Following on from his success in this area at Blackburn Rovers – think of David Bentley and Roque Santa Cruz – Manchester City's new manager seems to have found another player who can add a great deal of quality to his squad.
Vincent Kompany had only met his team-mates a couple of days before producing a highly accomplished performance in Sunday's win over West Ham. Not only that, it was the way he dovetailed smoothly with Michael Johnson in central midfield that must have left Hughes feeling very encouraged.
Sometimes, a partnership doesn't need much work, it just clicks into place, and that certainly seemed to be the case here. Kompany's natural tendency to sit in front of the back four, trying to break up attacks before spreading the play with an excellent range of passes – short and long –suited the athletic Johnson just fine.
This highly promising 20- year-old, who can run all day, found that his forward bursts were being nicely counter-balanced by Kompany's positional sense. Just like the canny Dietmar Hamann, who appeared later on, the Belgian international knew when to sit tight, giving Johnson the confidence to support the attack.
Kompany's defensive instincts, in fact, stem from a lot of experience as a centre-half, which came in very handy after Micah Richards was injured. The new boy looked equally impressive next to Tal Ben Haim, slotting in seamlessly to the back four.
Yet it appears to be the great potential of his relationship with Johnson that will serve City best this season. If both can stay fit, if Johnson can progress as a Premier League player in the way his talent should allow, and if the new signing from Hamburg builds on his classy debut, Hughes will boast a very capable central midfield.
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