Sven ready for January sales

Sven: Money to spend

Sven Goran Eriksson is refusing to rest on his laurels as he plans a busy January of spending at Manchester City.

The Swedish tactician has exceeded all expectations at Eastlands thus far, guiding City to third place following what was a summer of heavy investment.

While Eriksson received his fair share of the criticism for his handling of the England job, at club level he does appear to have the Midas touch.

And with the majority of his signings having seamlessly adapted to the robust style of English football, it seems likely City's moneymen will back him again in the New Year.

"We're thinking about January," Sven told the club's official website.

"Tord (Grip, his assistant) and some of the scouts have been travelling a lot lately, in fact I think Tord saw four games in three days last week in the Uefa Cup and Champions League.

"We are working on it, but I haven't seen any papers so I don't know what names are out there but I should be very surprised if some of the names that Tord, the coaches and I are discussing are in there - I don't think so.

"I don't know how much we'll have to spend but I'm told there will be money available if we need it. We'll have to be very careful, if we want to buy someone it has to be someone who will make this team better, and the better we play the more difficult it is to find players that can do that. "

Johnson concern

Meanwhile, Michael Johnson is to a see a specialist before a decision is taken on how to best handle his troublesome groin complaint.

"Michael's struggling a little bit," Eriksson added.

"He has a groin problem and has not trained as much as he should have done because of that.

"He will report with England on Monday and then see a specialist the day after, then they have to decide if he goes on with the national team or if he needs a rest. I don't know that yet, to be fair our club doctor, the England doctor and the specialist will have to decide that."