Manuel Pellegrini has been made to look like an awful eejit by Manchester City

Does Manuel Pellegrini have a clue what's going on with his players?

The Manchester City manager's authority has been brought into question by the fact that his opinion on midfielder Marcos Lopes' future was contradicted mere minutes after his press conference. With rumours circling that Lopes was set to leave Man City, the Chilean was insistent that his player would only leave the Etihad on a loan deal as Lopes was an important player for the future of the club. "Marcos is still a player here for Manchester City. We will see his future in the next hours. I think Marcos needs to play more in another club. He is a very good player. "I am sure in the future he will be part of our club but for this year he must continue trying to play as much football as he can. Here he has a lot of competition with David and Samir so it is better for him to go on loan." As Pellegrini's first language is Spanish, he was asked to clarify that Lopes would only be leaving the club on a temporary basis. "Yes," Pellegrini replied. "Just for this season." Then came the official announcement from the club that the 'not for sale' Portuguese player had joined Monaco on a permanent deal, permanent being the operative word.

.@Rony10Lopes has joined @AS_Monaco on a permanent deal - good luck, Rony from all at @MCFC. Story: http://t.co/OJQ7Ky37x8

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) August 28, 2015

So the moral of the story is that if you're looking for information on Manchester City, it's best to ask someone a little higher up than Manuel Pellegrini.