Boateng could be City's most important signing this summer
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zocoss
Why Jerome Boateng could be City's most important signing this summer
If all the summer signings Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has made, the cheapest player and the one with the lowest profile may ultimately turn out to be the most effective.
At £11million, Jerome Boateng is not a cheap acquisition, but in the context of mega-rich City's current spending spree, he is something of a snip for the Premier League and Europe's richest club.
And with an ability to play left-back and right-back, as well as his favoured central defensive role, the signing of the former Hamburg player and member of Germany's impressive World Cup squad could turn out to be a masterstroke.
Spain World Cup winner David Silva, a £29m capture from Valencia, may provide attacking flair, while Yaya Toure, a Champions League winner bought from Barcelona for £24m, will give City composure and authority in the centre of midfield.
But Boateng's versatility, not to mention his coolness under pressure, marks him out as potentially Mancini's best signing, in an area where City were found wanting last season. The decision to offload Richard Dunne to Aston Villa proved a foolish one, the former City skipper having a superb season at his new club.
In contrast, City's much-vaunted £40m central defensive partnership of Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott was a palpable failure, neither living up to their exorbitant transfer fees and proving money does not necessarily buy quality and a successful formula.
When Mancini succeeded Mark Hughes last December, his first job was to address City's vulnerable defence, which had become a liability and was undermining the progress made in attack with players of the calibre of Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy and Emmanuel Adebayor.
Just like Manchester United, who struggled with various central defensive combinations until they found an effective partnership in Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, City have not had a settled and successful central pairing since Dunne and Sylvain Distin.
The arrival of Boateng is the first step in addressing that problem and providing City with the foundation to sustain a title challenge when the new season gets under way. Who will partner him in defence remains to be seen.
Toure proved why Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was happy to get rid of him with an unconvincing first season at City, while Lescott seemed to be burdened by his ludicrous £24m price tag and was a shadow of the player who had performed with such distinction for Everton.
Indeed, City's defence looked more reliable with midfielder Vincent Kompany alongside Toure in defence, after Lescott missed the last 10 Premier League games of the season through injury. And with the imminent arrival of Lazio left-back Aleksandar Kolarov for £17m, City's defence is assuming a look of strength across the back-four that it has lacked for some time.