Bojinov quits City
Manchester City have taken a £1.25m loss on Valeri Bojinov after selling the striker for £4.5m to Parma.
The Bulgarian signed for £5.75m from Juventus in 2007 but immediately suffered a serious knee injury.
He scored just one goal in 11 league appearances and was loaned out to Parma last season. Mirror
SOME GOOD OLD FASHIONED DAILY MAIL BOLLOX
Manchester City spree will top £150m as Blues step up chase for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko
Manchester City will step up their quest for a striker this week as they prepare to take their summer spending past £150million.
City spent £60m last week when they confirmed deals for Jerome Boateng, Yaya Toure and David Silva, and they plan to conclude another £42m worth of business with Lazio's Aleksandar Kolarov and Aston Villa's James Milner over the next few days.
As Sportsmail has revealed, they are significant steps in what will be the biggest spending spree under taken by a British club in one summer, dwarfing the £120m they spent last year, and the piece de resistance is yet to be delivered.
City fear they will miss out on Fernando Torres because of his preference for playing elsewhere if he leaves Liverpool, but the club have other strikers in mind.
They have made a play for Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko and were alarmed at the German club's £50m demands.
Juventus and Bayern Munich have made counter-offers but the Bosnia international is keen on City and has asked to go. The problem for Dzeko is that fiercely proud Wolfsburg would have to back down.
INS AND OUTSWHO'S ARRIVED SO FAR?
YAYA TOURE From Barcelona for £25.5m
DAVID SILVA From Valencia £24m
JEROME BOATENG From Hamburg for £10.5m
WHO'S LOOKING FOR A NEW CLUB?
ROBINHO Latest interest from Turkish club Besiktas.
CRAIG BELLAMY Toss up between Everton and Tottenham.
JO Probably heading back to Galatasaray.
NEDUM ONUOHA Waiting for Everton to strike a deal.
STEPHEN IRELAND Aston Villa and Sunderland in pursuit.
SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS Villa have made an enquiry.
WHO'S STAYING TO FULFIL THE ENGLISH QUOTA?
GARETH BARRY
JOLEON LESCOTT
WAYNE BRIDGE
MICAH RICHARDS
Despite City's spending power, illustrated in their willingness to give Silva and Toure £160,000 a week in wages, the club do not want to pay over the odds.
For that reason they have also asked about Mauro Balotelli, the gifted but troubled teenager at Inter Milan, Palermo's Edinson Cavani, Mirko Vucinic of Roma and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, also a Manchester United target.None is without complication but City never expected their rise to the top to be easy.
They are undertaking a recruitment drive that will stand them in good stead for at least the next five years, sourcing talent for every position and at different tiers from youth level to first team.
Club officials held talks about their plans on Friday and many of the City players who return for pre-season training at Carrington today will, with some justification, be questioning where they fit in.A spending programme of such a scale, in today's financial climate, still needs to be balanced.
As Parma-bound Valeri Bojinov made a sharp exit yesterday, it is safe to as sume Craig Bellamy, Robinho, Nedum Onouha and Stephen Ireland will not be far behind.
Certain recent recruits, such as Patrick Vieira, will have to accept their best role will be on the bench and some players will have to accept they are at Eastlands to help meet the Premier League's 'homegrown' quota.
Indeed, on last season's displays, only Joe Hart and Adam Johnson of the British contingent may be guaranteed a start. They say it is tough at the top. Manager Roberto Mancini may be about to show his players just how true that is.
Yaya Toure: I want to help Manchester City grow, but will return to Barcelona
New signing Yaya Toure has spoken about his desire to help Manchester City succeed, but is convinced that he will one day return to Barcelona.
The Eastlands outfit paid Barcelona a reported £24m for the midfielder’s services, with the Ivory Coast international penning a five-year-deal after completing a medical with Manchester City physios in Spain. He will reportedly become the Premier League's highest paid player.
In a farewell interview with Catalan radio station RAC1, Toure revealed his sadness at leaving Barcelona, saying, "My time at Barcelona has been perfect. Here I have my best friends and always thought I would end my career here."
The midfielder also sounded ambitious though in his desire to succeed at Eastlands, commenting, "I am going to Manchester City to help them grow to the level of United or Chelsea."
Although Toure joins both his brother Kolo and impressive new signings David Silva and Jerome Boateng at Manchester City , his appears intent on one day returning to the Nou Camp.
He said, "I am convinced that some day I will return. My heart is at Barca and some day I will wear this shirt again. I am quite sure. Barça is the club of my life."
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Fernando Torres set for Liverpool exit as agent admits Premier League big boys are interested
Fernando Torres appeared on the verge of leaving Liverpool on Sunday night after his agent indicated the striker is bound for another Premier League club.
Chelsea are at the front of the queue to sign the Spaniard and Manchester City also showed interest before moving on to other targets when they got little encouragement from the 26-year-old.
Agent Jose Antonio Martin said: ‘It is very likely that Fernando Torres will stay in the Premier League, but I cannot say that it will be with Liverpool. We are working on his future but right now you cannot guarantee that he will stay with the English club.’
Pastures new: Fernando Torres' agent claims the striker could leave Liverpool for another Premier League team
Barcelona have been linked with a move for Torres, but Martin made it clear they will not challenge Chelsea for Torres’ signature.
‘It is ruled out,’ said Martin. ‘Barcelona have signed David Villa and now they want to invest the money they have in other players.’
Sportsmail revealed in May that Torres was a £70million target for Chelsea and, despite Roy Hodgson insisting he would do all he could to keep the Spaniard and Steven Gerrard, the new Liverpool manager could offer no guarantees.
Having already sold Yossi Benayoun to Chelsea, Hodgson would prefer to raise funds for his squad rebuilding by selling the likes of Javier Mascherano and Albert Riera.
But Hodgson knows such is the state of Liverpool’s finances — their debt is £472.5m — a big offer from either Chelsea or City for Torres will be almost impossible to turn down.
Torres says talk about his future must wait until Spain’s World Cup campaign is over.
Bayern Munich and Germany striker Thomas Mueller is now Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti's number one summer transfer target. The youngster has already scored four goals at the World Cup to help his country into the semi-finals. caughtoffside.com
Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has his heart set on playing for Barcelona next season, according to his Spain team-mate Gerard Pique. Daily Mail
Chelsea are set to snap up Portuguese attacking midfielder Raul Meireles for £15m. The Porto star, who impressed during the World Cup, is seen as the first stage in Ancelotti's midfield rebuilding programme after the departures of Michael Ballack and Joe Cole. Daily Mirror
Bolton are closing in on Real Madrid left-back Marcos Alonso after he snubbed Benfica. Real striker Rodrigo Moreno is also Bolton-bound in a combined £5m deal. The Sun
Arsenal have been approached about a deal for Sporting Braga's Portugal goalkeeper Eduardo, 27, who has a £3.4m buy-out clause in his contract. Mail
West Ham are ready to pip Espanyol for Mexico winger Pablo Barrera in a £3m deal and are also keen on signing Aston Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell. Daily Mail
West Ham boss Avram Grant is also set to beat Fulham and West Brom to the signature of Lyon's Ivory Coast striker Frederic Piquionne, 31, who played for Grant while on loan at Portsmouth last season. the Sun
Stoke boss Tony Pulis has offered Cardiff £2m, plus winger Michael Tonge in his bid to sign midfielder Joe Ledley, 23. the Sun
However, Celtic are also in talks with Joe Ledley about a move from Cardiff to Scotland, with the midfielder likely to make a decision on his future this week. Daily Record
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is hoping to sign German full-back Lenny Sowah, 17, from Portsmouth. Daily Mail
Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro will join new Al Ahli coach David O'Leary in Dubai after signing a two-year deal with the club. Daily Mail
OTHER BOLLOX
Fulham are planning to make a formal approach to the agent of former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson to find out whether the Swede, who coached Ivory Coast at the World Cup, would be interested in replacing Roy Hodgson at Craven Cottage. (Daily Star)
However, former Fulham midfielder Lee Clark, currently the manager at Huddersfield, is the favourite for the Craven Cottage post as he heads a shortlist of three, which also includes Mark Hughes and Alan Curbishley. Daily Mirror
Former Shrewsbury boss Paul Simpson is in contention to take over as coach of the Libya national side. (Daily Mail)
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