ROBERTO MANCINI needs a frantic five-week fire sale to offload up to £130million worth of stars and comply with Premier League rules.

The Manchester City manager has 37 first-team players but has just over a month to meet the new requirement for a maximum 25-man squad.

It means the likes of Craig Bellamy, who has been linked with Spurs, Nigel De Jong, bought for £16m, and the unsettled Stephen Ireland could all leave for
knockdown prices before the squad list is submitted to the Premier League on
September 1.

And with Mancini, who has assessed his playing staff during City's pre-season tour of the United States, set to conclude a deal for Aston Villa's James
Milner, he is desperate to get the bulk of those players out of the door at
Eastlands within 20 days.

He said: "I know that we must sell some players because in 20 days we must have a list with 25 players. I am disappointed because some players must
change teams now. It is difficult for them to play for us.

"When you play in four competitions you must have a large squad because if not you have difficulties. For this it's important we have 25 players."

The new rule is that each club must register a squad of 25 players with the Premier League - eight of which must be 'home grown'.

To qualify as 'home grown', players must have played for at least three seasons before reaching 21 with a club affiliated to either the English or
Welsh FA.

Once registered, only these 25 players can feature in Premier League games until the next transfer window, although players who are still under 21 do
not have to be registered and can still play.

City have bought mainly experienced players as they attempt to gatecrash the Premier League elite. Now they have a list of around a dozen players for
whom they would listen to offers.

UNSETTLED: Stephen Ireland

Bellamy, a £14m buy from West Ham, is rated at only £4m, while Ireland made it clear at the end of last season that he wanted out.

He is valued at between £12-15m and has attracted interest from Aston Villa as well as admiring glances from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

Wayne Bridge's position has also come under threat following this week's £17m signing of left-back Alexsander Kolarov from Lazio. The former Chelsea and
England defender was signed for £10m in January 2009 but will not be happy
at being second choice.

Brazilian superstar Robinho, bought from Real Madrid for a record £32.5m on the day of the Abu Dhabi Group's takeover in August 2008, is still out on
loan at Santos and has no intention of rejoining City before finding a new
club. City could be looking at taking a hit of up to £15m if, as expected,
they sell him for less than £20m.

The squad is overstocked in the defensive midfield position, which has led to talk that Dutch World Cup hero De Jong may move on. The player was signed
from Hamburg in January 2009 but must now compete with new signing Yaya
Toure, England international Gareth Barry and even Patrick Vieira for a
place in Mancini's starting side.

Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany were also bought as defensive midfielders when they arrived at Eastlands just weeks before the takeover.

England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, not a regular starter under Mancini, is another tipped for a possible departure after the breakdown of his contract
talks. Wright-Phillips is two years through a four-year deal and has turned
down an extension worth £70,000 a week after initially demanding £100,000 a
week.

Academy graduate Nedum Onuoha and former England prodigy Micah Richards are also likely to leave before the season kicks off at Spurs on August 14.

Onuoha said at the end of last season that he doesn't think Mancini appreciates him, while Richards has not shown the form in the past two years
that propelled him into Steve McClaren's England side at just 17.

Sunderland, Spurs, Everton and Aston Villa have shown interest in the pair and City would be happy to receive around £12m for both.

Not all the players on the list will leave and Mancini will try to trim his squad by sending young fringe players such as Vladimir Weiss, Kelvin Etuhu,
Greg Cunningham and the talented Michael Johnson out on loan to gain
first-team experience.

Brazilian striker Jo, a disastrous £18m signing in the weeks leading up to the Abu Dhabi buyout, is not wanted and City will be lucky to recoup a fraction
of their outlay. Ecuadorian striker Felipe Caicedo has also been told to
find another club.

The expected losses, which could top £40m, emphasise the club's lack of awareness in the transfer market during the first 18 months of the takeover.

As well as Robinho, it is widely accepted they paid over the odds for Joleon Lescott, at £24m, Roque Santa Cruz, who cost £17.5m, and Kolo Toure, who did
not impress in his first season after leaving Arsenal for £16m.

The jury is still out on Emmanuel Adebayor, who also arrived from the Emirates last summer - for £25m - after he scored just 14 goals last term.