The Italian began the day by attempting to ease any title pressure on his players ahead of the most important match of City's season so far, labelling his side as the least likely of the five contenders to lift the title.

But the news of Dzeko's likely arrival for around £27million from Wolfsburg, followed by new pictures of training ground friction between players - this time Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor - emphasised just what an astonishing feat Mancini has already achieved in getting the big spenders into second spot.

"Arsenal, Chelsea, United and Tottenham all have more experience than us and, probably, one of these four teams will win the title," said Mancini.

"We just want to try and stay there and improve.

"I would still say Chelsea have more chance but they have a problem at this moment because Carlo (Ancelotti) has three or four important players injured.

"When you have that situation for two or three months, it is very difficult."

Had Mancini been speaking later in the day, he might have been asked how difficult it was maintaining team spirit when his players do not always get along so well.

There have been a number of on-field disagreements this term and it is only a month since Mario Balotelli and Jerome Boateng were kept apart by team-mates.

But the questioning had stopped by the time former Arsenal team-mates Toure and Adebayor had to be separated by colleagues, then ordered to play on the same side in a training match to prevent a resumption of hostilities.

Blues officials attempted to play down the spat, which came to light because of the easy access to City's training sessions due to a public right of way that runs right past their Carrington complex.

Yet the chaotic melee is merely in keeping with the remainder of City's season so far, and it has not stopped them prospering.

Indeed, had it not been for the knee injuries that keep David Silva and Mario Balotelli on the sidelines, they would have been optimistic of registering their first away win since 1975 over an Arsenal outfit Mancini has plenty of admiration for.

"I like the way they play. It is perfect," he said.

"I don't think there is only one player to fear in the Arsenal side.

"Usually people say Fabregas, Van Persie or Arshavin. But every player has good technique. They are just a very good team."

Referring to the Dzeko transfer, Mancini added: ``We have agreed a fee with Wolfsburg and I am confident he will come but we must wait,'' said the City chief.

``Today we have an important game, so we must keep our focus on it.

``But all the teams in Europe want Dzeko, which is a sign that he is a good player.''

When asked about the bust-up with Adebayor, Toure played down the incident as a perfectly normal occurrence carried over from their days together in North London.

He told The Sun: "We both lost it but it calmed down quickly. Other players and the manager came to separate us. It's already forgotten.

"In any case, with Adebayor it's not the first time and it won't be the last. At Arsenal we often had a similar set-to. We know each other well, maybe too well.

"In any case that proves we have energy to burn; it's not that negative."