With just three days left until the end of the transfer window, OTBM looks at a few of the rumours flying around.

First on the list is Parma’s highly rated midfielder McDonald Mariga. Following the failure to sign Real Madrid’s Fernando Gago, manager Roberto Mancini has turned to the 22 year old amid interest from both Milan clubs, Napoli and Arsenal.

At 6’3” tall, Mariga would add much needed height to the midfield and is reported to be in the same mould as Chelsea’s Michael Essien. £10m is the reported asking price and the blues may allow striker Valeri Bojinov to remain permanently at Parma as part of any deal.

From Parma to Middlesbrough. That’s a horrible thought but it’s only for winger Adam Johnson. The England Under 21 international has been Boro’s star performer this season in what has been a disappointing campaign for the North East club.

Johnson has reportedly asked manager Gordon Strachan for permission to speak to City, although the former United midfielder is hoping to keep hold of Johnson until at least the summer. However, the winger will be out of contract by then and could move for free, although the blues have reportedly offered £5m for the youngster.

Next up is a player who may be following Robinho out of Eastlands. Benjani has been targeted by Sunderland and may move to the North East on loan until the end of the season. Robinho secured a loan transfer to former club Santos on Thursday.

The transfer window shuts on Monday and although City were again expected to be big spenders, they have only signed Patrick Viera so far. So will Johnson get his wish and join the blues? If so, what will it mean for Petrov or SWP? Is Mariga City’s Essien?

Another couple of days and we’ll find out. Keep tuned.

PS, sorry the site wasn’t updated yesterday. Post derby blues and too much ribbing from United fans I’m afraid but normal service is back.

City lost their Carling Cup semi-final against United as Wayne Rooney scored in Fergie time to send United into the final.

Leading 2-1 from the first leg, the blues looked good value for a draw with the 0-0 time score. Even when Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick scored to put United 2-0, City responded when Carlos Tevez pulled a goal back which looked like sending the time into extra time.

But, as in September, Fergie time took over and United scored to win 4-3 on aggregate and send the blues crashing out. However, City can take heart from the happenings of both legs and indeed, the whole tie.

Prior to League One side Leeds United knocking the reds out of the FA Cup, SAF promised to stick by his kids in the Carling Cup so it is a measure of how much a threat City pose to United’s dominance that he played his strongest team possible including Rio Ferdinand, who is facing a violent conduct charge from the FA.

Indeed it was City who decided to field a youngster for both games in the shape of Dedryck Boyata, a move which is showing that the blues are getting to the stage where we have strength in depth.

It was the biggest derby in years and although it ended in defeat, a lot of positives will be taken once the dust has settled.

City had the better chances in the first half, with Tevez wasted the chance of the half chance on 28 minutes when he headed straight at van der Sar from Craig Bellamy’s perfect cross.

Pressure was on United at the start of the second half but it was City who almost took the lead. Micah Richards’ rising drive had van der Sar at full stretch to tip it away for a corner. Bellamy went to take it and was subsequently hit by a coin and a plastic bottle thrown at him as some United fans decided to bring shame on their club.

On 52 minutes, Scholes got his goal from the edge of the area and Carrick made it two on 71 minutes before Rooney missed a sitter from eight yards.

The tie looked to be going into extra time when Tevez, the scourge of United in the first leg, got to the ball ahead of Ferdinand and back-heeled it into the net Denis Law style.

Unfortunately, as usual at Old Trafford added time was City’s undoing when Rooney got a lucky goal to win the tie.

It was a fantastic effort from the blues, who will now focus on fourth spot and that elusive Champions League place. And there is also a home FA Cup 5^th round tie with Stoke in February and a place in the quarter finals to go for.

We may not have won tonight but the ear-splitting noise from Old Trafford showed that it meant more to United than they care to admit. They now recognise the threat from Eastlands and that scares the hell out of them.

Despite the result, the balance of power in Manchester is starting to shift. And when it does, reds fans will not know what has hit them.

Tonight’s game doesn’t just represent a chance for the blues to appear at Wembley. It doesn’t just give them a chance to knock United out of a cup competition. But it does represent a milestone in City’s evolution.

After years of new managers and false dawn’s this season could just be the one and Roberto Mancini is the man who will take us there. Mark Hughes was popular but he was never a tactician like Mancini, who can see where things need changing and is not afraid to do it but a big thank you has got to go to the Welshman for getting us here in the first place.

Blues fans have waited almost thirty years for a night like tonight and now, just a couple of hours away from the biggest game for City for a long time, blues fans everywhere are hoping for that one result that will transform their season.

For United, this is just another derby, just another cup semi-final. They have been to so many over the years that they will treat this as just another game.

Yet for the blues it is so much different. We have lived in the shadow of United for too long and now is a chance for our club to evolve and to begin to step out from behind that shadow.

Tonight, friends will become rivals for at least ninety minutes as the battle rages on the pitch and we can only hope that it is only the pitch that sees such a battle tonight.

If the blues fail tonight, there will be another time, another place where we won’t fail. But if we succeed, it will mark a pivotal point in our evolution and fully justify the finance which ADUG as placed in the club. We will no longer be ignored, dismissed as a mid-table team but one with real ambition and a glorious future ahead of us.

And so to the Battle of Old Trafford, where I fully believe that tonight, the lads will pull it off. Whether it is a draw or win, I don’t really care. What does matter is that, by late this evening, City’s name will stand opposite to Aston Villa’s on the League Cup Final date. It is what every blue wants and hopes for tonight and by tomorrow, bragging rights will firmly belong in the blue half of the city.

Good luck City. Makes us all proud.