Edin Dzeko didn't come cheap, and he showed why once again with two goals in the 5-2 savaging of Wolves at Molineux, yet he spearheaded City's reserves according to the reports.

It's easy to see why, after a wholesale re-shuffle from Old Trafford: "City were all-change but still all-conquering as Dzeko led this romp into the Carling Cup quarter-finals," says The Sun.

And the back page of the Mail has Bosnia striker Dzeko and full-back Aleks Kolarov celebrating success next to the headline: "Even City's second string are five-star performers". 

As Mail corrrespondent Janine Self concedes in her despatch: "It seems churlish to use the word ‘reserve’ when referring to the likes to Dzeko, Samir Nasri, captain Kolo Toure and Nigel de Jong.

"Yet, such is the strength in depth available, none were deemed good enough to start against United."

Well, Roberto Mancini's target - like other top bosses - is to chase all four competitions in which City are entered, and the same players cannot hit top level every match. Teams must change.

What doesn't change is Mancini's ability as a manager, according to Gianluca Vialli, the former Chelsea boss whose interview with Talksport is picked up by tribalfootball.com.

They report that "Vialli feels Mancini will lead Manchester City to the Premier League title" and believes "it's only a mattter of time".

Vialli reckons: "He is one of the best [managers]. He’s likely to win the championship if not this year, next year, with Manchester City.

“He’s a bit underestimated. I remember people asking why Man City didn’t go for someone with a proven track record and the guy had just won three Italian championships, with Inter Milan winning 17 games in a row.

Roberto is very good at managing big-name players

"He doesn't care about what they do, or what they think, he just picks whatever team he thinks is the best."

Back at Molineux, Wolves boss and former City defender Mick McCarthy couldn't fault his players' performance against the Blues' so-called Second XI.

Goal.com quote him: “I’m certainly not down by the way we played. I’m not sure we expected to turn Man city over. But we had a right good go. We didn’t do anything wrong tonight.

"It was a fabulous finish the first one. Second one, Samir Nasri got inside of Matt Doherty, but I thought he [Doherty] was great. There were some good performances from my players.”

Second string? Maybe. But definitely not second best.