Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz has urged Manchester City team-mate Stephen Ireland not to turn his back on the Eastlands clu, arguing the midfielder is not the only one who finds it difficult to break into the team.
Ireland has struggled to find his way into the plans of City manager Roberto Mancini, following the Italian’s arrival midway through last season.
The 23-year-old is just 12 months into a lucrative five-year deal at City but is reportedly eyeing an exit after failing to reproduce the sparkling form he showed during the 2008/09 campaign.
However, Santa Cruz believes Ireland still has much to offer the Barclays Premier League club, despite the expected influx of new players this summer.
“He is a very nice guy and a fantastic player also, so I think everybody at the club would be very disappointed to see him leaving. He is a great talent,” said Santa Cruz.
“This season has been hard for him, not finding a starting place in the team, but it is always going to be hard when you are at a team that is always getting new players who start all the time.
“It is very hard for everyone.”
Santa Cruz was speaking after Paraguay lost 2-1 to the Republic of Ireland at the RDS last night.
The striker made a telling contribution at the wrong end when he headed against his own crossbar and failed to get to the rebound in front of Kevin Doyle.
Nevertheless, after struggling with a knee injury since joining City last year, Santa Cruz insists he feels good ahead of the two remaining World Cup warm-up games against the Ivory Coast and Greece.
"I feel really good in terms of the knee. I'm very happy and pleased that it has let me play and train regularly.
"We have two more games before the World Cup starts so I'm very confident I'm going to get in the best rhythm possible."