While the nation’s press pick over the bones of England’s miserable World Cup exit, at least City fans can still enjoy the tournament via some of the club’s other stellar talents.

Argentina could become the team many Blues shout on from here on in with Carlos Tevez leading the line with his usual mixture of raw aggression and breathtaking skill.

Ian Chadband in the Daily Telegraph enjoyed the celebration for Tevez’s second goal against Mexico – the one that wasn’t three yards offside – saying: “Instead, Tevez signed it off with another contender for goal of the tournament. A searing 20-yard strike, after his first attempt had been blocked, which had Maradona hugging him like a long lost son.”

Elsewhere, the inevitable post-mortems are underway on exactly who is to blame for England’s lamentable attempt to find some kind of rhythm in South Africa. At least Dominic Fifield in the Guardian has a few kind words for one of City’s English trio.

He says: “Gareth Barry was left playing catch-up in terms of match sharpness throughout. The Manchester City midfielder has arguably been this team’s most consistent performer throughout qualification, but he, like others in this squad, failed to put any real stamp on the tournament. Too many in this squad seemed jaded when the nation demanded sparkle.”

Expect transfer speculation to ratchet up a notch now England are out, too – and that means plenty of column inches for City and the club’s alleged transfer targets.

Paul Jiggins in The Sun claims Samba star Maicon is one player who won’t be heading to the blue half of Manchester. He writes: “Jose Mourinho has beaten Manchester City in the race for Brazilian star Maicon. The Brazil full-back has promised to join The Special One from Inter Milan as soon as he returns from South Africa.”

Whether he was ever really on Roberto Mancini’s radar or not, we’ll never know...