After Rolando Bianchi departed Man City and the Premiership to head back to his homeland on loan with Lazio, Sven-Goran Eriksson has reflected on the reasons why the Italian was not a success in the Premiership.

"We bought eight players last summer, and seven settled in very well," said Sven, "but Bianchi had a few more difficulties. Maybe also he had a difficulty with the way we are playing, but he wanted to play and to allow him to do that we allowed him to go back to Italy for the rest of the season.

"I understand that because before he came he was on the ladder up to the Italian national team, and his dream is to be involved in the European Championships next summer. To do that, he has to play.

"I didn't think Elano was ready to play as one of four midfielders in a 4-4-2 system with two strikers, and our system has worked very well. That meant that Bianchi played as one striker, but he was not used to that."

"The only way he did not settle in here was with the football. I think he liked it here, and all the boys here liked him. He was very educated, there were never any problems with him, and maybe he just struggled with the way we play."