Man. City's Eriksson targeting Henry

Manchester City boss Sven-Göran Eriksson has identified Barcelona striker Thierry Henry has one of his primary transfer targets for the summer, as he looks to bring in the players necessary for City to challenge for a top-four finish, according to a report in LaGazetta dello Sport.

Eriksson has been handed a $120 million war chest by City's Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra in order to turn the club into Champions League qualifiers and is ready to spend around $20 million of that in order to bring Henry back to England.

Henry, 30, spent eight successful years with Arsenal in the Premier League before joining Barcelona this summer for a reported $32 million, but has failed to recreate that form at the Camp Nou in the 4-3-3 formation the Catalan giants employ.

He made his frustrations clear when he was substituted during the second half of Barça's 2-1 loss to Villarreal a couple of weeks ago and was then omitted from the starting 11 for the 2-2 draw with Almeria on Sunday.

These incidents have alerted a number of clubs, all of whom are hoping to take the two-time FIFA World Player of the Year off Barcelona's hands in the summer, although City is the first to make its interest publicly known if the report in the Gazetta this morning is to be believed.

Whether Barça will be willing to let the Frenchman leave is an entirely different matter, with president Joan Laporta having courted Henry for many years before he eventually signed on the dotted line.

His future could well be dependent on that of coach Frank Rijkaard, who hasn't seen eye-to-eye with Henry and has often played him out of position. Many believe Rijkaard could leave in the summer and if so, a new manager might be able to get the best out of Henry once more.