Roberto Mancini believes the lack of a chief executive played a major role in Manchester City missing out on their chief targets in the summer transfer market.
It took City 12 months to find a replacement for Garry Cook, who resigned after three years as chief executive in 2011, with the Premier League champions eventually appointing Ferran Soriano on August 17.
With little of the transfer window remaining, a frantic fortnight saw the arrivals of Jack Rodwell, Javi Garcia, Maicon, Matija Nastasic, Scott Sinclair and Richard Wright at Eastlands.
But the high-profile players Mancini had hoped to buy, including Robin van Persie, Javi Martinez, Daniel Agger and Daniele De Rossi, all eluded City.