Man City have completed the deal that brings James Milner to Eastlands and has Stephen Ireland going in the opposite direction.

Medicals were passed this afternoon with City agreeing a substantial fee for Milner in addition to Ireland’s transfer – rumoured to be £16 million, with Ireland valued at an additional £8 million.

For Fantasy Managers its very much a bittersweet situation. On the face of it we could be losing a signficant option in midfield in the shape of Milner who now must be classified as a player under threat of rest and rotation and who will struggle for Bonus Point recognition amongst City’s squad of plentiful assets. Ireland is a different story entirely; here we have a former Fantasy success story emerging from obscurity at Eastlands to possibly return to our radars as a mid-price proposition…

James Milner’s talents are undeniable. He enjoyed a superb season in Villa’s midfield last term and emerged as a major Fantasy force bringing in 7 goals and 12 assists, along with a staggering 35 Bonus Points over his 36 starts. He reinforced all that with another strong performance in Villa’s opening win over West Ham and capped it with a farewell goal.

The big question now is just how his abilities will translate to City’s star-studded lineup. Where will Roberto Mancini fit his talents with the likes of Gareth Barry, Nigel De Jong and Yaya Toure competing for central midfield roles and David Silva, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adam Johnson available out wide?

Mancini was giving little away in his reaction to completing the deal and only emphasised Milner’s versatility and the competition for places he brings…

“He is an excellent midfielder, who can play in a number of positions. This is important for the team, and I am looking forward to seeing him play for us. We have a very strong squad, and this signing is a very important one for us…James he is already a very good player, who has proved he can play at the very top level. But he is also young and a good character, I think he can also improve and be a great player for Manchester City for a long time.”

It’s hard to imagine that Milner has been bought to take up a wide role but equally difficult to see him slotting in at the expense of Barry or Toure. Perhaps a permanent move to 4-5-1 will give Mancini the option to allow Milner and Silva to support a lone striker from central areas but then with Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and now Mario Balotelli as options up front, that’s a system that looks difficult to maintain.

For Fantasy Managers Milner looks set to be a spoilt asset; a player who could previously be considered as a strong mid-to-high midfield option who has now had his potential returns and starting role security hampered by the transfer to Eastlands. That’s certainly the case for now – we will need to have assurances of a run of starts before we can look in Milner’s direction again; even then can we coutn on Bonus Points with the likes of Tevez, Silva and company on the same pitch.

So what of the other half of this transfer equation? If anything the opposite is true of Stephen Ireland. He’s a talent who has been buried by the options at City who now looks set to be given a new lease of life and, crucially, 30+ starts at his new club.

Ireland was restricted to 16 starts and six sub appearances last season but registered 2 goals and 2 assists plus an 5 Bonus Points over those games. It’s the previous season that sticks in the memory however and surely the spell that inspires Villa to include the Irishman in the deal for Milner. In 2008/09 Ireland notched 9 goals and 10 assists, fetching 16 Bonus Points over 34 games. All that for an initial price of just 6.0 in the FPL. That return earned him the nickname of “Fantasy Ireland” around these parts.

At just 6.5 in the FPL this season, Ireland could well be a tempting proposition if he can recapture that form. Those kind of returns were inspired by an almost “free” attacking role from midfield for City which saw him constantly ghost forward to join in attacks. Ireland’s ability to time his runs and his finishing skills, alongside his vision, allowed him to flourish. On his arrival at Villa today, Ireland wasted no time in outlining those qualities…

“My main attributes really are breaking from deep counter-attacking quite fast as the ball is building up, whether you are running with or without the ball…I’ve kind of got a good eye for goal as well – I pop up at the right place at the right time.”

The challenge for Villa is to extract the best from Ireland and it may well require a long-term change in tactics and formation. Right now Villa do at least seem set up for Ireland’s arrival. Ashley Young was employed in a central attacking role just off John Carew against West Ham at the weekend and it’s surely that role which would get the best from Ireland. Should Kevin McDonald or his successor look to swap Ireland into this position you’d have to presume that Young would be shifted back out wide; a brave move considering there are rumours that Young had pushed Martin O’Neill to play him in that positon.

Any shift for Young would also presumably put Marc Albrighton’s role in the side under real threat. Young could feasibly challenge Downing for his role on the left but it would seem more likely that Young and Downing would be the preferred pairing on the flanks.

The alternative to all this is that Ireland could simply be employed alongside Stylian Petrov in a deeper role, leaving Young to continue off the striker. That could hamper Ireland’s returns and in the long-term there could still be issues once Gabriel Agbonlahor is fit and the option for a paring with Carew is there. That could even arrive this weekend for the trip to Newcastle.

Ireland’s arrival creates a dilemma then and McDonald will have some difficult choices to make off the back of the fine 3-0 win over West Ham. An immediate swap for Milner into a deeper midfield role looks the most likely option in the short-term. That will mean a wait-and-see policy looks best whilst we assess Ireland’s impact at Villa Park.

Patience is required then. This transfer deal could well be a significant occurrence in our Fantasy seasons but right now the protagonists involved offer potential that must be assessed over the weeks to come once we’ve seen several teamsheets pass through the hands of Mancini, McDonald and whoever takes reins at Villa.