Ahead of an enormous squad rebuild, the transfer rumours were always certain to fly in greater quantities than what City fans have been accustomed to in recent years of squad stability.
The past day has been especially busy, with reports - and baseless rumours - of impending player arrivals and departures.
The day's action actually kicked off overnight, with Lisbon-based newspaper A Bola (The Ball) reporting that Melbourne Victory defender Roderick Miranda could become the latest player to cross the Derby divide. Coming off contract at the end of the month, A Bola claimed it understood that the 32-year-old wanted to remain in Melbourne, and "all that remains is to settle the details for the transfer to be completed by the end of this week". In a recent turn of events, however, this now seems unlikely. Just at the time of writing, Miranda has posted an Instagram story stating "'Mon the Vuck".
A display of loyalty to his existing club, or a purely symbolic gesture to abate the heat from his former fans? We'll have to wait and see how his situation plays out.
After finally processing that unexpected news, City fans were soon teased with another rumoured signing. Australian-based French Twitter account @outbackftbl stated this morning that 34-year-old French defender Samuel Souprayen had completed a medical ahead of an anticipated move to Melbourne City. It was then clarified in a separate comment that the medical had taken place at Manchester City's facilities in the UK. Souprayen most recently plyed his trade in the Bulgarian first division, which fits the profile of other recent defensive signings by Michael Petrillo, with Nuno Reis and Thomas Lam also arriving not long after stints there.
The signing, perhaps justifiably, has seemed to underwhelm City fans online. At 34, Souprayen adds to an already age-advanced squad that has exported its best youth in recent years. Football analyst and writer Petar Petrov (@PPetrovFR), who is familiar with leagues in that region of Europe, described Souprayen as 'way past his peak' and 'a downgrade on Good and Lam'.
Defensive depth may indeed be required with Asian Champions League involvement on the cards, but Souprayen is a rumoured signing that fails to impress, at least on paper.
The day's final transfer development was the least substantiated but arguably the most watched.
A likely innocent coincidence at any other time but the A-League off-season, Marco Tilio happened to post an Instagram story in London around the same time that Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier tweeted about 'massive news coming out of Australia today'. That coincidence alone would hardly have been worth inclusion here, except that it was followed by a now-deleted Tweet from Australian football account @scout_aussie claiming that Tilio would be joining the recently Premier-League-relegated side.
The transfer status of Tilio seems just as important as any potential signing that we could make at the moment, so this will hardly be the last rumour we hear about the young City talent.
Whilst Miranda, Souprayen and Tilio were the subjects of today's Melbourne City transfer speculation, they'll hardly be the last players we see linked to or from the club.
Alongside the former duo, City have also been linked with (in order of recency): Central Coast academy goalkeeper Patrick Beach; Western Sydney Wanderers trio Terry Antonis, Alessandro Lopane and Amor Layouni; and free agents Jamie Young (formerly Western United) and Steven Ugarkovic (Wellington).
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