Wednesday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

United set to sign £27million Sanchez from under City's noses
Manchester United are ready to seal a £27million deal for Udinese’s Chilean star Alexis Sanchez - under the noses of Manchester City and Barcelona.

United supremo David Gill flew to Barcelona yesterday to meet Udinese’s negotiators who were talking to the Catalans as the auction for the talented attacking midfielder comes to the boil.

Top 10 things you need to know about United, City and Barca target Alexis Sanchez

And Gill was also spotted in talks with Sanchez’s representatives who have been with Barca - with insiders revealing that the player wants to go to United above all of their rivals.

Sanchez is being bartered around by Udinese, who wanted £30 million but are now under pressure to take less both by United and their South American star’s camp.

United have now gone in hard and official for Sanchez - despite City sending a two-man delegation of Garry Cook and Brian Marwood to Italy over the past few days.

City were hoping to blow all of the other bidders out of the water with an offer, but they have been told again that Sanchez prefers to go to the red half of Manchester.

Boss Sir Alex Ferguson wants Sanchez as his next major capture, a race that sped up when Paul Scholes announced his retirement. United had been watching the exciting Udinese ace but really got serious as that vacancy appeared.

Sanchez is waiting on United and Udinese sorting out the fee. He is in Chile but has been given permission by his national team to fly off and sign for a new club before Copa America begins in July.

The gifted and speedy star wants to go to United as he believes he has a better chance of a game than he would at Barcelona who have been on his trail for weeks.

Barca failed to match Udinese’s asking price - despite offering cash and various player swaps - and they will now switch their search elsewhere with Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas still high on their wish list.

OTHER BOLLOX
Arsenal have made an approach for Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Willian, with a deal for the 23-year-old including a payment of £12m and Gunners midfielder Denilson in part-exchange. talkSPORT

Meanwhile, Fabregas is desperate to quit Arsenal - according to Gunners team-mate Bacary Sagna.the Sun

However, with four years remaining on the 24-year-old's contract, the Gunners have told Fabregas they will repeat last year's efforts and do their best to prevent a sale to Barcelona.Daily Star

Chelsea have been told they will have to fork out at least £44m for Palermo's attacking midfielder Javier Pastore. The 21-year-old Argentine, who joined the Italian Serie A club two years ago for £5m, is also wanted by Real Madrid and Barcelona. the Sun

Tottenham are close to concluding a £12m contract for Internacional's 21-year-old forward Leandro Damiao. Daily Mail

Sunderland and Everton will step up their attempts to sign striker Demba Ba after he activated a clause in his contract allowing him to leave West Ham on a free transfer. Metro

Argentina striker Sergio Aguero, 23, is set to deliver a snub to Chelsea and Manchester City by signing for Juventus for about £40m from Atletico Madrid. talkSPORT

Sunderland have sent an e-mail out to top clubs telling them that Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan is available for transfer. Daily Mirror

Manchester United defender Wes Brown is keen on staying in the North West and might reject a switch to Sunderland, which would put Blackburn and Bolton on red alert.Daily Mail

Alex McLeish will be named the new manager of Aston Villa by the end of Wednesday. talkSPORT

The six candidates to be the new manager of Birmingham City are Gianfranco Zola, Roberto di Matteo, Chris Hughton, Alan Curbishley, Dave Jones and Steve Cotterill. talkSPORT

Fifa could face a backlash from Europe's leading clubs as the world football governing body plans to increase the number of international friendly dates from 12 to 17. the Guardian

Spare a thought for Frankie Fielding, who is set to play in goal for England's Under-21s against Ukraine on Wednesday. A tattoo reads "Loved too much to be forgotten" and reminds him about his dad Frank. His father died of a heart attack in 2007 - a week before he was due to fly home and see his son play on loan at Wycombe in his first season. the Independent


more bollox soon ...

[ashton287]

haha did rat boy write that sanchez bit???

Whoever it was is a munich fuck face.

[Ted Hughes]

Prefers to go to Utd my fucking arse.

If Barca put the money up, he would be there like a shot. We know that, the rags know that but the difference is; (like with their parade) they have mates in the media who actively seek to promote a positive image whenever possible, to counteract all the shite. We don't; we just get the shite.

[bobby brows]

Manchester City seek Udinese compromise over Alexis Sánchez• City do not want to pay more than £25m to sign Sánchez

• Chile forward also wanted by Inter and Barcelona


Manchester City have told Udinese they do not want to go any higher than £25m in their pursuit of Alexis Sánchez, as the most financially endowed club in football set about bringing a new measure of restraint into their transfer business.

Garry Cook, the City chief executive, arrived in Italy , accompanied by the club's football administrator, Brian Marwood, with no intention of entering an auction for the Chilean forward who is on the radar of Barcelona and Internazionale and has also been offered to Manchester United, with the Premier League champions sounded out during fresh talks involving the chief executive, David Gill.

Increasingly aware of the implications of Uefa's financial fair-play rule, City are determined not to follow the route of previous summers when they have knowingly offered inflated sums to beat off rival bidders. Udinese want in excess of £30m and, while a compromise may be reached, it has been made clear to the Italians they are not negotiating with a club for whom money is no object, despite the popular perception that has developed of City under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi United Group.

What City want to avoid is the sense they are willing to pay over the odds just because they have done likewise in previous seasons. On the contrary, the incoming fair-play guidelines have drastically altered the transfer-window mentality within Eastlands, a change that has caused friction at times behind the scenes, with the manager, Roberto Mancini, having previously been under the belief there would be as much money as he wanted to bring in new signings for the next phase of the club's development. Mancini's relationship with Cook and Marwood has deteriorated over the past six months but it was made clear to him during an end-of-season meeting in Abu Dhabi with the chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, that the rules could not be ignored and that the club were simply unable to continue operating in the transfer market without restraint.

A compromise was reached and Khaldoon's assertion that the club probably needed only two signings has been modified to three or four, largely to appease a manager who believes the squad is not equipped to combine playing in the Champions League with mounting a serious challenge for the Premier League.

To fit in with the new philosophy, the club are willing to sanction a release of players to help drive down their wage bill. Nedum Onuoha is just one of a dozen or so who could leave, with Sunderland speaking to City about arranging a deal for a player they had on loan last season.

Jérôme Boateng has made it clear he wants to leave after a difficult, injury-troubled first season in Manchester, telling Germany's Kicker magazine he has agreed a four-year contract with Bayern Munich and that "it is up to Manchester to make it work, at the moment they are making things a bit difficult".

Bayern's bid is substantially less than the £10.5m City paid Hamburg at the start of last summer, a fee that was struck before the World Cup and regarded inside Eastlands as a bargain. City have noted Phil Jones's £16.5m valuation in moving from Blackburn Rovers to Manchester United, and also the £20m that Bolton want for Gary Cahill, and are adamant the 22-year-old Boateng, a Germany international on a five-year contract, will not leave for a loss.

Patrick Vieira may also leave Eastlands and, in doing so, end his association with English football. The former Arsenal player is on the list of free agents City have submitted to the Premier League, although it is still possible he may be offered another year-long deal later in the summer, depending on the club's transfer business. In the meantime, 34-year-old Vieira is considering several offers elsewhere.

TODAYS RUMOUR MILL

Just as the ambassador once wooed his easily impressed guests with Ferrero Rocher, so the Sun courts us this morning with another bold transfer splash. "Monsieur, with this Alexis Sánchez to Manchester United rumour, you are really spoiling us," they would have us coo, yet for all the packaging might proclaim its own exclusivity, the substance of this piece tastes a little stale.

The Sánchez to Somewhere (Please God, Anywhere) saga has been rumbling on for long enough now that the player has already been linked to every club with a bank account more than six times over, but if the Sun's latest "scoop" has a particularly tired feel it might be because the one fresh development: David Gill meeting Udinese representatives in Barcelona, was widely reported in Italy yesterday. (Unnecessary pedantry alert: Gino Pozzo, who met Gill, is identified by the English tabloid as Udinese's president, when in fact that post is held by Franco Soldati. Gino Pozzo is the son of the owner Giampaolo, though obviously still authorised to conduct such negotiations).

If you fancy a sneak preview of tomorrow's headlines, then, head directly to Gazzetta dello Sport, who report that Pozzo will meet Juventus suits to discuss their interest in Sánchez today in Milan. In the meantime, the Sun round off their Italian homework by noting the words of the Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini, who has warned potential suitors – said to include Chelsea – that they will have to pay £44m for the Argentinian Javier Pastore, and by parroting persistent but rather unlikely reports that have Atlético Madrid's Sergio Agüero is on his way to Juventus for £40m.

Elsewhere, in countries not shaped like a lady's boot, Arsène Wenger will make Arsenal's fans' wishes come true by finally getting shot of Denílson. Oh, and he might get some chap called Willian from Shakhtar Donetsk in exchange. Plus blow a further £12-14m on Lille's Gervinho, then snap up one of Gary Cahill or Christopher Samba to shore up the defence and snaffle the Brazilian striker Leandro Damião from under Tottenham's noses. Great. But seriously, Denílson's on his way … right?

As the Brazilian makes his way to Heathrow, he might just cross paths with Guus Hiddink, expected at Stamford Bridge just as soon as he can finish wriggling out of his existing job with the Turkish national team. After being made to wait so long for his arrival, Chelsea expect their new man to arrive bearing gifts. Show up with anything less than a comedy fez and the Galatasaray winger Arda Turan, and Guus could find himself sleeping on the sofa.

There'll be no sleep for Asamoah Gyan, as he tries to work out how it is that he could wind up unwanted by a club that is desperate to sign David Ngog. Despite having already flogged Jordan Henderson for £20m to Liverpool, Sunderland are seeking to raise even more funds in order to pursue the Liverpool striker, along with Birmingham's Craig Gardner and the Manchester United pairing of Wes Brown and Darron Gibson.

The Mirror, meanwhile, report Aston Villa have come to the conclusion that Stewart Downing is worth more than 50% of an Andy Carroll, and will therefore demand £20m from Liverpool for their winger. Carroll's former club Newcastle, meanwhile, will invest £6m on the Switzerland and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta.

In other news, Jérôme Boateng may or may not be on his way to Bayern Munich, Blackburn want a piece (well, ideally all, actually) of Roma's Mirko Vucinic, and Everton's Jack Rodwell reckons Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry – among others – could walk into Barcelona's starting line-up. No, really.

[Alioune DVToure]

Manchester City seek Udinese compromise over Alexis Sánchez• City do not want to pay more than £25m to sign Sánchez

• Chile forward also wanted by Inter and Barcelona


Manchester City have told Udinese they do not want to go any higher than £25m in their pursuit of Alexis Sánchez, as the most financially endowed club in football set about bringing a new measure of restraint into their transfer business.

Garry Cook, the City chief executive, arrived in Italy , accompanied by the club's football administrator, Brian Marwood, with no intention of entering an auction for the Chilean forward who is on the radar of Barcelona and Internazionale and has also been offered to Manchester United, with the Premier League champions sounded out during fresh talks involving the chief executive, David Gill.

Increasingly aware of the implications of Uefa's financial fair-play rule, City are determined not to follow the route of previous summers when they have knowingly offered inflated sums to beat off rival bidders. Udinese want in excess of £30m and, while a compromise may be reached, it has been made clear to the Italians they are not negotiating with a club for whom money is no object, despite the popular perception that has developed of City under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi United Group.

What City want to avoid is the sense they are willing to pay over the odds just because they have done likewise in previous seasons. On the contrary, the incoming fair-play guidelines have drastically altered the transfer-window mentality within Eastlands, a change that has caused friction at times behind the scenes, with the manager, Roberto Mancini, having previously been under the belief there would be as much money as he wanted to bring in new signings for the next phase of the club's development. [highlight]Mancini's relationship with Cook and Marwood has deteriorated over the past six months[/highlight]but it was made clear to him during an end-of-season meeting in Abu Dhabi with the chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, that the rules could not be ignored and that the club were simply unable to continue operating in the transfer market without restraint.

A compromise was reached and Khaldoon's assertion that the club probably needed only two signings has been modified to three or four, largely to appease a manager who believes the squad is not equipped to combine playing in the Champions League with mounting a serious challenge for the Premier League.

To fit in with the new philosophy, the club are willing to sanction a release of players to help drive down their wage bill. Nedum Onuoha is just one of a dozen or so who could leave, with Sunderland speaking to City about arranging a deal for a player they had on loan last season.

Jérôme Boateng has made it clear he wants to leave after a difficult, injury-troubled first season in Manchester, telling Germany's Kicker magazine he has agreed a four-year contract with Bayern Munich and that "it is up to Manchester to make it work, at the moment they are making things a bit difficult".

Bayern's bid is substantially less than the £10.5m City paid Hamburg at the start of last summer, a fee that was struck before the World Cup and regarded inside Eastlands as a bargain. City have noted Phil Jones's £16.5m valuation in moving from Blackburn Rovers to Manchester United, and also the £20m that Bolton want for Gary Cahill, and are adamant the 22-year-old Boateng, a Germany international on a five-year contract, will not leave for a loss.

Patrick Vieira may also leave Eastlands and, in doing so, end his association with English football. The former Arsenal player is on the list of free agents City have submitted to the Premier League, although it is still possible he may be offered another year-long deal later in the summer, depending on the club's transfer business. In the meantime, 34-year-old Vieira is considering several offers elsewhere.

TODAYS RUMOUR MILL

Just as the ambassador once wooed his easily impressed guests with Ferrero Rocher, so the Sun courts us this morning with another bold transfer splash. "Monsieur, with this Alexis Sánchez to Manchester United rumour, you are really spoiling us," they would have us coo, yet for all the packaging might proclaim its own exclusivity, the substance of this piece tastes a little stale.

The Sánchez to Somewhere (Please God, Anywhere) saga has been rumbling on for long enough now that the player has already been linked to every club with a bank account more than six times over, but if the Sun's latest "scoop" has a particularly tired feel it might be because the one fresh development: David Gill meeting Udinese representatives in Barcelona, was widely reported in Italy yesterday. (Unnecessary pedantry alert: Gino Pozzo, who met Gill, is identified by the English tabloid as Udinese's president, when in fact that post is held by Franco Soldati. Gino Pozzo is the son of the owner Giampaolo, though obviously still authorised to conduct such negotiations).

If you fancy a sneak preview of tomorrow's headlines, then, head directly to Gazzetta dello Sport, who report that Pozzo will meet Juventus suits to discuss their interest in Sánchez today in Milan. In the meantime, the Sun round off their Italian homework by noting the words of the Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini, who has warned potential suitors – said to include Chelsea – that they will have to pay £44m for the Argentinian Javier Pastore, and by parroting persistent but rather unlikely reports that have Atlético Madrid's Sergio Agüero is on his way to Juventus for £40m.

Elsewhere, in countries not shaped like a lady's boot, Arsène Wenger will make Arsenal's fans' wishes come true by finally getting shot of Denílson. Oh, and he might get some chap called Willian from Shakhtar Donetsk in exchange. Plus blow a further £12-14m on Lille's Gervinho, then snap up one of Gary Cahill or Christopher Samba to shore up the defence and snaffle the Brazilian striker Leandro Damião from under Tottenham's noses. Great. But seriously, Denílson's on his way … right?

As the Brazilian makes his way to Heathrow, he might just cross paths with Guus Hiddink, expected at Stamford Bridge just as soon as he can finish wriggling out of his existing job with the Turkish national team. After being made to wait so long for his arrival, Chelsea expect their new man to arrive bearing gifts. Show up with anything less than a comedy fez and the Galatasaray winger Arda Turan, and Guus could find himself sleeping on the sofa.

There'll be no sleep for Asamoah Gyan, as he tries to work out how it is that he could wind up unwanted by a club that is desperate to sign David Ngog. Despite having already flogged Jordan Henderson for £20m to Liverpool, Sunderland are seeking to raise even more funds in order to pursue the Liverpool striker, along with Birmingham's Craig Gardner and the Manchester United pairing of Wes Brown and Darron Gibson.

The Mirror, meanwhile, report Aston Villa have come to the conclusion that Stewart Downing is worth more than 50% of an Andy Carroll, and will therefore demand £20m from Liverpool for their winger. Carroll's former club Newcastle, meanwhile, will invest £6m on the Switzerland and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta.

In other news, Jérôme Boateng may or may not be on his way to Bayern Munich, Blackburn want a piece (well, ideally all, actually) of Roma's Mirko Vucinic, and Everton's Jack Rodwell reckons Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and John Terry – among others – could walk into Barcelona's starting line-up. No, really.

Has it? Or are they just making this shit up?

[Blueonblue]

Its the age old "them and us" is all,
Roberto wants the best players while Cook has to balance the books, so bound to be a little friction, the media are blowing things way out of context trying to shit stir.

The same with the way the headlines proclaim we have been "Beaten" to a player, when in fact we have set the price and so forced the potless ragarsed to spend yet more money they dont have if they do sign them.............bringing bankrupcy ever closer ;0)

[bobby brows]

Its the age old "them and us" is all,
Roberto wants the best players while Cook has to balance the books, so bound to be a little friction, the media are blowing things way out of context trying to shit stir.

The same with the way the headlines proclaim we have been "Beaten" to a player, when in fact we have set the price and so forced the potless ragarsed to spend yet more money they dont have if they do sign them.............bringing bankrupcy ever closer ;0)

From what I understand Mancini's will take a name of a player that he likes to Marwood or city will scout a player that they think has potential. They'll watch him as many times as possible. Get a full background, attitude, family life, injuries, interests, Marwood will take this report to Mancini and Mancini willi get final say to sign the player, Marwood will work to the budget allowed.

[Blueonblue]

Thats more or less the system used, but I`m also sure if Roberto pushed on a certain player he would get the nod ;0)

[Florida Blue]

Manchester City seek Udinese compromise over Alexis Sánchez• City do not want to pay more than £25m to sign Sánchez

[highlight]• Chile forward also wanted by Inter and Barcelona[/highlight]

I love this part, especially after Chinners first story.. no mention of scum at all...

[Lev Bronstein]

The strange thing about the Sun article on Sanchez to the rags,is that it puts immense pressure on the rags' management. Basically, they appear to be in direct competition with us, Barca and Inter (at least as far as I can gather). If they are in for him and don't get him, won't that go against the "we can get any player we want" bollox that they come out with?

[Mikhail Chigorin]

The strange thing about the Sun article on Sanchez to the rags,is that it puts immense pressure on the rags' management. Basically, they appear to be in direct competition with us, Barca and Inter (at least as far as I can gather). If they are in for him and don't get him, won't that go against the "we can get any player we want" bollox that they come out with?

Don't forget the mantra about there being no value in the market.