Price wasn't right for Sven

Last updated : 07 September 2007 By Ben Collins

Eriksson had hoped to bring in a couple of new faces at the end of August, to add to the eight signings he made before the start of the season.

But the only transfer activity at City was outgoing, with Danny Mills (Charlton), Paul Dickov (Crystal Palace) and Bernardo Corradi (Parma) going out on loan.

There was an ongoing wrangle with Palermo over a £4m transfer for Australian midfielder Mark Bresciano, as well as talk of a late move for Inter Milan's Brazilian striker Adriano - either on loan or in a £12m deal.

But neither move materialised and Eriksson has revealed there were no new arrivals because of red tape or inflated asking prices.

"We talked a lot about it," he told the City website. "But we decided not to do it because it was a little bit complicated and the prices were very high."

Having resisted the temptation to make any panic buys, Sven hopes to have more leeway for reinforcements in the next transfer window.

"We'll wait now until January," he said. "In one way it's better to do it then because you know the team much better.

"We have time now to concentrate on what we need and we'll try to bring in more quality.

"There is supposed to be money in January to spend again and that's good for the club," Sven added.