City striker Stevan Jovetic has been dropped from our squad for the latter stages of the Champions League

Manchester City Football Club announced their final squad for the UEFA Champions League on Friday ahead of this month’s mammoth tie against Barcelona in the tournament’s Round of 16 stage. While this was merely an announcement to confirm which players will be used by the Citizens in the tournament’s latter stages, another fact could possibly have been confirmed. The fact that I am referring to is quite obviously the future of one Stevan Jovetic. The 25 year old has had to endure a tough time since moving to the United Kingdom but with this latest revelation we may have reason to believe that his time on these shores is almost up.

The Montenegro international has endured a tough time since moving from Fiorentina
after failing to score as many goals as he would have wanted

The reason why I, along with numerous other City fans are thinking that Jovetic’s time in England may be up is because he has been removed from our UEFA Champions League squad for the tournament’s latter stages. The 22 million pound signing from Fiorentina is once again going through a torrid season at the Etihad, and this latest demotion from the Champions League squad is surely the nadir of his time with City. Being denied the opportunity to play in the biggest club competition in the world would be a blow for any footballer and it would be an even bigger one for a player who has been performing at the highest level all his life. Jovetic’s drop down the pecking order has been hastened by the arrival of Wilfried Bony from Swansea City. The Ivory Coast international is yet to make his debut for the Citizens due to his participation in the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast and it will be at least another week before he becomes available for us. His international commitments will have no impact on our Champions League schedule however as it finally kicks off once again on the 25th of February, giving Bony ample time to return and recover from international duty. As it stands, Sergio Aguero is still our primary front man but new signing Bony is next in line especially because he is in a rich vein of form. This leaves our two other strikers, namely Edin Dzeko and Jovetic himself and who is higher up the pecking order is now very much evident.

City boss Manuel Pellegrini has stated that Jovetic does in fact have a future at the the Etihad despite being dropped from our Champions League squad

Dzeko has actually scored a goal lesser than Jovetic this season, but four solid years of dependable goal scoring in a City shirt is surely what is keeping him ahead of Jovetic. City boss Manuel Pellegrini has come forward to state that our Montenegro striker does in fact have a future at City but the truth is that he is our fourth choice striker at the moment. At this point of time, I do not see him staying at the Etihad at the start of the coming season as both parties should be hoping that the player does move on. City will be hoping to recuperate some of the money they spent on him two years ago while the player himself would be hoping to receive increased playing opportunities elsewhere, so overall, a move away from Manchester City would be the best and most plausible option for Jovetic right now.