Football pundit Jamie Redknapp has turned Chief Scout this morning by suggesting Manchester City should consider offering John Terry a contract this summer. In his column in the Daily Mail, the former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder proposed the 33-year-old as a potential and cheap remedy to Manuel Pellegrini's defensive conundrums - however unlikely he presumes a deal may be.

Redknapp writes: “Terry, 33, can leave on a costless transfer at the end of the season and Chelsea have only offered him a one-year deal, in line with club policy for senior players.

“I wonder if Manchester City would consider a daring raid. If they could pull it off, they get to weaken one of their rivals and they end up with Terry and Vincent Kompany in a mighty partnership.

“It would take a minimum two-year contract to drag Terry from Stamford Bridge, where you can imagine he would ideally like to finish his career as a one-club player. I can’t see him leaving, but I can see City — who have tried to sign him before — enjoying the mischief.”

The Guardian report that Manuel Pellegrini believes Samir Nasri can provide Manchester City with the impetus they need to stay in the title race in the absence of star man David Silva. The Spaniard, who propelled City into the thick of the title race with a number of magical performances in March and April, missed Wednesday night's draw with Sunderland due to a niggling ankle problem, and his Chilean boss believes his French partner can step up in his absence.

(Samir Nasri has contributed 6 goals and 5 assists to City's topsy-turvy season)

"At the moment I think Nasri is doing very well with or without Silva. I think it's very important to play both of them together. Maybe when we play with just one of them the team has less play than when they play together," said Pellegrini.

The City manager said "the doctor has some hopes" of Silva facing West Bromwich. "He worked [on Friday] with the physio, maybe [over the weekend] he can work part of the session with the squad, so maybe he can be [fit] on Monday. But it's not sure at the moment."

In Other News

In other news, Manuel Pellegrini has dismissed claims that his lack of squad rotation has cost his side the Premier League title. The Express report that the Chilean has used only 23 players this season - the lowest number in the league - and that injuries to high profile players such as Sergio Agüero and David Silva should have necessitated more rotation.

(Manuel Pellegrini has been criticised for the lack of players he has used this season)

However, Pellegrini swatted away the allegations by claiming he had played the same team only once this season.

"I don't agree because we made a lot of rotations during the season. I think I have kept the same team only once. After the Liverpool game we made five changes for Sunderland. It was a fresh team but they just played badly. And when you play badly it is normal to think you are tired.

"We have played 13 games more than Liverpool but the squad was big enough to try and win four trophies. The problem has not been the amount or quality of the players.

"Rodwell and Richards didn't play more because a lot of the time they were injured so it was very difficult to pick them. We didn't know they would be injured so much and maybe Barry would have played some games.

(Micah Richards and Jack Rodwell have missed most of the season through long-standing injuries)

"But it is important to understand that the decision about Barry was made at the start of the season when we had five players for two positions. That was too many.

"Rodwell was 22, Barry was 32 and in the final season of his contract so the decision had to be Rodwell."