BOLTON NEW BOY MARTIN PETROV SLAMS MAN CITY
MARTIN PETROV has fired a furious parting shot at Roberto Mancini – claiming he treated him like a teenage kid.
The Bulgaria winger, 31, claimed he was given the silent treatment by Manchester City’s Italian gaffer and shown no respect in his final six months at Eastlands.
Petrov was battling back from a knee injury that blighted the second half of the campaign, but was effectively an outcast among the multi-millionaires, which made him decide to leave this summer.
He rejected a new contract to sign a two-year deal worth £35,000-a-week at Bolton and he could not wait to get away.
Petrov said: “If you have played at the top level and have a good name, if you have played for your country, then the communication must be better for someone who is 31 years old.
“I am not an 18-year-old boy. It was the first time in my career when I have not played and the communication with me was so bad. No one spoke with me.
“The only person I want to thank at City is the physio and not the other guys.
“I want to make that clear. I spent the last two months with the physio getting myself right.
“Man City have spent big and I know it is difficult to play. The first year at City was very positive.
“They gave me a chance to play in the Premier League but the last two years were very difficult and a lot of money was spent.”
Petrov had offers from Stoke, Everton and West Ham but opted for the switch to Owen Coyle’s side and is delighted that the Scot showed such faith in him.
Coyle reckons Petrov is the best free transfer on the market this summer – despite him being dogged by knee trouble ever since joining City in 2007.
He aggravated the problem again at Stoke in February which forced him to miss the rest of the season.
Petrov added: “It was a very difficult moment for me because I did not play for six months.
“Everyone knew I had knee problems so it was a tough decision for the manager at Bolton to sign me.”
Roque Santa Cruz praises Manchester City for completing deal for David Silva
Paraguayan hitman happy to remain with the Eastlands club
Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz believes that the signing of Valencia winger David Silva will be great for the club.
The Paraguay international was rumoured to be a part of the deal for Silva, but the Spain international will come over to the Eastlands on a four-year deal without Santa Cruz heading to La Liga.
Santa Cruz is adamant that he was not informed of any deal he was supposed to be a part of and is focused on his country’s first ever World Cup quarter-final, where they will take on Spain.
"Of course I heard the rumours (about the Silva deal) but personally I didn't hear anything,” Santa Cruz told Sky Sports News.
"I'm very happy at City and I wouldn't like to move there (Valencia) and I will do of course my best to help the team to improve and that's of course after the World Cup and the holidays.
"But for now it's focusing on the national team."
The 28-year-old is excited to play alongside Silva with City next season and praised the Eastlands club’s new star.
"He is a great player so he is of course a great strength to the team and to the squad so I think everybody's going to be very pleased to have him.
"Everybody knows he's a great player so he's a great signing for the team."
Manchester City youth product Javan Vidal signs new contract with the club
Javan Vidal has signed a new one-year contract with Manchester City.
Vidal came through the ranks at Eastlands' youth academy and is hoping to make an impression on Citizens boss Roberto Mancini this season so he can break into the first-team picture.
“My current deal ran out, so I've extended my contract by another year," he told the club's official website.
"My aim now is to impress the manager during pre-season. I'm just looking for a chance to show people what I'm capable of and if the opportunity comes along, I will give it my best shot.
"If I don't break through initially, maybe the club will send me out on loan to get a few more games under my belt and gain more experience. Either way, I'm just happy to have signed a new deal."
The 21-year-old has spent time on loan in the past with Derby County, Aberdeen and Grimsby Town.
Manchester City Make Another Signing and Fast Approach Title Favouritism
Tuesday, David Silva was confirmed as a Manchester City player.
Yesterday David Platt was announced as a new first team coach and tomorrow a further deal will be today.
And no, it wont be the confirmation of Yaya Toure as that will likely be Monday now due to Barcelona dragging it out for their own political purposes.
Tomorrow Manchester City will confirm the signing of James Milner, and in doing so, will have bookmakers changing their odd for City to win the title.
Manchester City are currently 13/2 joint 3rd favourites with Paddy Power alongside Arsenal with Manchester United 2nd favourites at 2/1 and Chelsea 13/8 favourites.
With City the only club truly improving both on and off the pitch next season, it will be interesting to see if Paddy Power makes City clear 3rd favourites after the Milner deal is announced.
It's very likely that they will, and that begs the question: what will happen when Yaya Toure completes his move? Another cut in odds? Very possibly.
But let's save the best 'til last and ask what would happen if Manchester City were to wrap up a deal for Fernando Torres?
WAG OF THE DAY
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TRANSFER BOLLOX
Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho is ready to test Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger with a £35m bid for Dutch striker Robin van Persie. caughtoffside.com
Sir Alex Ferguson is set to launch a bid for out-of-favour Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema but the Manchester United boss must first attempt to secure funds from player sales. caughtoffside.com
New Portsmouth boss Steve Cotterill is confident of persuading David James to stay at Fratton Park following talks with the England goalkeeper. Daily Mail
West Ham are expected to make an improved offer for Brazilian teenage star Neymar after Santos rejected a £12m bid.Daily Mail
Winger Hameur Bouazza wants to quit Premier League new boys Blackpool for a move to Paris St Germain.
(Daily Star)
Geovanni is poised to quit Hull after being handed a free transfer, with Greek clubs AEK Athens and Panathinaikos both keen to sign the striker. Daily Mirror
Portsmouth have told Lazio to double their £5m joint offer for duo Kevin-Prince Boateng and Nadir Belhadj.
(Daily Star)
Stoke City have confirmed they are keen to sign Cardiff midfielder Joe Ledley, and could get him for a fraction of the £6m they bid for him two years ago. The Sun
Liverpool and Spurs are battling to sign Galatasaray's Turkish winger Arda Turan, who says it is his "dream" to play at Anfield.The Sun
Arsenal are tracking AS Monaco highly rated keeper Stephane Ruffier who has told his club that he wants to leave this summer. Juventus, Napoli and Bayern Munich are also reported to be interested in the 23-year-old.footylatest.com
Tottenham are set to enter the race to sign Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and are prepared to offer as much as £25m for the Sweden international.footylatest.com
OTHER BOLLOX
Striker Michael Owen, 30, says he will be fit for the start of the Premier League season with Manchester United and confirms his interest in returning to international football.
(Daily Telegraph)
Welsh football chief Jonathan Ford, who has come under fire after backing Fifa's stance against goal-line technology, has hit back at England with a swipe at their performances in South Africa. "By conceding four goals I don't think England were really in any position that they were going through to the final," said Ford.The Western Mail
ENGLAND: SEX RUMOURS SPLIT TEAM BOLLOX
ENGLAND’S bid for World Cup glory was derailed before it even began by sex rumours on the internet, it was claimed last night.
FA bigwigs are now probing what exactly went wrong with the campaign after it was claimed that some of the team were at each other’s throats when they played Germany.
And the apparent bust-up between the star players is said to have rocked morale in the camp before they even touched down in South Africa.
A source revealed: “These sex rumours spread through the camp like wildfire.
“They caused huge divisions in the squad and to make things worse they are not even true.”
The internet allegations follow previous unrelated events that saw John Terry, 29, stripped of “his” captain’s armband after coach Fabio Capello learned of shocking reports about his sex life.
It was claimed he slept with model Vanessa Perroncel, 33, the former partner of his then-England teammate Wayne Bridge, 29, who subsequently quit international football.
The Chelsea star was accused of having a secret fling with Bridge’s ex girlfriend back in February.
Both Terry and Vanessa have denied they had any kind of sexual relationship.
But Manchester City star Bridge was so upset by the revelations that he refused to travel to South Africa to play alongside the Chelsea captain.
His club teammates, including England midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips, 28, even wore Team Bridge T-shirts on a holiday to show support for the devastated defender.
Bridge refused to shake Terry’s hand when the two clubs met in a Premier League clash at the Blues’ Stamford Bridge ground three weeks after the claims emerged.
Terry’s armband initially went to Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand, 31. But when he was injured in the run-up to the World Cup, Scouser Steven Gerrard was the next in line.
Liverpool ace Gerrard has also been dogged by unrelated false rumours about his own private life in recent months.
We told earlier this year how Gerrard, 28, and his wife Alex, 27, had been forced to deny their marriage was on the rocks after “pub gossip” about them spread around the internet.
Since England were knocked out of the World Cup by the Germans on Sunday, yet more vicious and incorrect rumours have emerged about the Gerrards.
The Daily Star has seen the emails and text messages that are being passed around. And none of the lurid accusations carried in them are true.
FA chiefs are conducting a thorough review of life in the Capello camp as they decide whether the Italian coach should keep his job.
They have said they will need at least two weeks to make their minds up.
But if Capello is forced out of the England job they could be landed with a multi-million-pound bill to pay him off.
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