Robinho tops move list as Manchester City look to recoup £50 million
Manchester City are planning to raise more than £50 million from player sales this summer, with AC Milan emerging as a possible destination for Eastlands outcast Robinho.
Craig Bellamy, Micah Richards, Stephen Ireland, Robinho and the £17 million Paraguayan forward Roque Santa Cruz are all likely to leave should the club receive suitable offers before the Aug 31 transfer deadline. And City hope they will recoup around half of the money they are spending on buying players.
Although manager Roberto Mancini has made it clear that Bellamy and Ireland can still have a future at the club, the summer acquisitions of David Silva, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng, plus attempts to sign James Milner and Edin Dzeko, have clouded the prospects for many Mark Hughes signings.
Manchester City on alert as Kaka eyes Premier League moveRobinho, the British record signing, at £32.5 million from Real Madrid, has a month left on his loan deal at Santos but the Brazilian club are unable to finance a permanent move.
Milan are keen to sign the 26 year-old as a replacement for Ronaldinho, who has held talks with Flamengo and LA Galaxy. Reports in Brazil on Tuesday night claimed that the former Barcelona forward had agreed terms with Flamengo.
Robinho's £160,000-a-week wages and City's £20 million valuation are viewed as high by Milan, but the prospects of a move will be improved once Ronaldinho is off the wage bill.
Tottenham's interest in the £5 million-rated Bellamy could be firmed up over the coming days, with officials from both clubs due to meet in New York next week during their pre-season involvement in the New York Football Challenge.
Spurs have also been monitoring City defender Richards, who would be available for £10-12 million.
Ireland, who confirmed his desire to leave at the end of last season, is valued at £15 million and Everton and Aston Villa are both considering a move for him.
Marseille are interested in Santa Cruz and Real Sociedad are attempting to finance a move for the Brazilian forward Jo.
Frustrated Manchester City ready to end pursuit of Edin Dzeko
Club unwilling to pay Wolfsburg £45m for striker whilst a similar stance may also end interest in James Milner.
Manchester City may abort their proposed move for Edin Dzeko unless Wolfsburg lower their financial demands and accept that the most powerful spenders in English football are not prepared to pay around £45m for the Bosnian striker.
Roberto Mancini, the City manager, wants to pair Dzeko with Carlos Tevez in the coming season but several weeks of on-off negotiations have reached an impasse, with a huge disparity in the valuation from either side. Dzeko has scored 54 goals in 94 games for Wolfsburg and the Bundesliga side have said they will do business only if they receive an offer of £40m-£50m. City regard that as exorbitant and are refusing to budge, determined not to be regarded as a soft touch when faced with selling clubs trying to take advantage of the financial position at Eastlands.Edin Dzeko has scored 54 goals in 94 games for Wolfsburg.
There were similar reasons behind City's decision not to follow up their initial moves for Benfica's centre-half David Luiz, having been quoted £29m, and an increasingly familiar pattern is also threatening to bring an end to their interest in James Milner. Aston Villa have asked for £30m, whereas City have made an offer of £18m plus £2m in add-ons. Unless a compromise can be reached, around £24m, City will reluctantly give up, despite an increasing acceptance within Villa Park that Milner wants the transfer to happen.
"Eventually if players do want to leave the club, or any football club for that matter, it becomes more difficult than ever before," Martin O'Neill, the Villa manager, said today. "But we have a better chance of performing in the manner in which we did last season if we keep our best players and James Milner comes into that equation."
As for Dzeko, his representatives are also speaking to Juventus but, again, Wolfsburg would have to lower their demands for a deal to happen. The player has expressed his frustration about Wolfsburg's asking price and City's position can be gauged by the fact the 24-year-old had a £35m release clause until the end of May but that, too, was considered excessive by the club's chief executive, Garry Cook, and football administrator, Brian Marwood. There is a feeling at Eastlands that they need to make a stand when it comes to negotiating fees because the alternative is that they will always be expected to pay considerably more than other clubs.
City have already spent around £60m this summer on Jérôme Boateng, David Silva and Yaya Touré and are trying to negotiate a price with Internazionale for the talented but problematic wide player Mario Balotelli. As for outgoings, Robinho has emerged as a possible target for Milan if, as expected, Ronaldinho leaves San Siro for Flamengo.
EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR CAN'T WAIT FOR MANCHESTER CITY TO PLAY CHELSEA
Emmanuel Adebayor has warned champions Chelsea to watch out for Manchester City With the 24-man squad we will have, we will be looking to win everything next season. Emmanuel Adebayor has sent an early title warning to champions Chelsea.
Adebayor claimed big-spending Manchester City are ready to turn two years of growing potential into glorious reality.
And the £25m striker said City aim to make a flying start next month.
“It is a difficult start, but it could be good for us in the sense that we can send out a message,” said the Togo ace.
“If we go to Tottenham and get a good result and then do the same against Liverpool, it will be good for confidence and it will show that we are title contenders.
“If we are going to win the title, then we should not be concerned about how the fixtures fall.” Adebayor was speaking in Portland, Oregon, at the start of City’s pre-season tour.
He added: “There is great anticipation for the coming season.
“This is the perfect chance to do some hard work as a group and we have some tremendous facilities here at Nike headquarters.”
Fernando Torres for Manchester City? Definitely Maybe Bollox!
Another Garry Cook-up spills the beans to Oasis star Noel Gallagher
Manchester City's gaffe-prone chief executive Garry Cook has put his foot in it again by revealing the club's summer transfer targets to rock star Noel Gallagher over lunch.
The list of names, bizarrely scribbled on a napkin, came to light when the former Oasis front man and lifelong City fan gave a radio interview and divulged details of his meeting with Cook before they attended Sunday's World Cup final in Johannesburg.
Gallagher described how the City chief wrote down the first-team squad he wants to assemble for next season.
'I just had a big, long lunch with Garry Cook and the revelations you lot are going to hear in the next month are going to blow your mind, but I can't say anything,' said Gallagher, who denied that Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi were on the list, then wavered when the interviewer mentioned Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.
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MARTIN O’NEILL could be forced to sell James Milner to Manchester City in a cut-price deal to finance his Aston Villa team-building plans.American owner Randy Lerner has given O’Neill a £15m budget for new signings.
O’Neill is determined to bolster that by offloading high wage-earners Nigel Reo-Coker, Luke Young, Habib Beye, Curtis Davies, Steve Sidwell and Nicky Shorey.
But to bring in his own targets, Villa boss O’Neill may have to sacrifice Milner, 24, who he values at £30m.
City have made it clear they will look elsewhere if Villa won’t accept their offer of £25m for the England midfielder.
Manchester City have given a trial to the son of one of the former stars of The A-Team. Roland Benedict, 20, whose father, Dirk, played Templeton 'Faceman' Peck in the 1980s television show, has been training with City's development squad. (the Times)
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Liverpool FC midfielder Javier Mascherano would jump at the chance of a reunion with Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan, claims the player's agent.
The Argentina captain is reportedly one of the top transfer targets for Inter this summer.
And Mascherano’s agent Walter Tamer has done little to quell the speculation, telling Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport: "Mascherano has not spoken to (new Liverpool manager Roy) Hodgson nor with Liverpool.
"After the World Cup, he has switched off but it’s clear that he is happy to be a target of top clubs in the transfer market. Daily post.
Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer is interested in a move to Arsenal this summer.
The Australia international tops the list of transfer targets for the Gunners as Arsene Wenger is keen to solve the goalkeeping problems that plagued Arsenal at times last season.
Arsenal have already have a bid for the 37-year-old rejected by the Cottagers, but remain intent on signing the veteran goalkeeper, according the Sky Sports.
The Daily Mail are reporting that Carlo Nash has agreed to join Stoke City after his contract at Everton came to an end this summer.
Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs insists he has no plans of a move to Major League Soccer.
Reports have previously linked the 36-year-old with a move to spend the final years of his career in the USA.
“Being in America you have a great lifestyle, good for raising a family,” said Giggs in a phone interview posted on USA Today’s website.“The play is getting better. I still have a year left with Manchester United. After that maybe, maybe I will be too old.”
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is poised to celebrate his new contract at the club with a move for Sevilla and Brazil striker Luis Fabiano. Daily Mirror
Redknapp has also urged Joe Cole to put football before finances as the former Chelsea midfielder ponders where he will move to following his departure from Stamford Bridge. Daily Mail
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has has made a second bid to sign Paraguay striker Nelson Valdez from Borussia Dortmund. Daily Mirror
Bolton boss Owen Coyle is set to sign Real Madrid left-back Marcos Alonso in a £2.2m deal, with the club ready to fly him straight to the club's training camp in the US.Daily Mirror
WAG OF THE DAY
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4196 ... me#page/11
OTHER BOLLOX
Southampton have banned vuvuzelas from St Mary's for the forthcoming season.
The club have taken the step to ban the instruments, which rose to prominence during the World Cup in South Africa, following an "influx of requests".
Their decision follows in the footsteps of Championship clubs Ipswich, Cardiff and Leicester, as well as Super League outfit Harlequins. A club statement said: "The decision to ban them has been made in the interest of everyone's enjoyment."
It added: "Vuvezelas may be part of the tradition of football matches played in South Africa, but they won't become a part of the game at St Mary's this season."
Portsmouth will withdraw their offer of a player-coach role to England goalkeeper David James unless he can give them an answer in the next 24 hours. Daily Mail
Liverpool's Brazilian midfielder Lucas Leiva has been thrown an Anfield lifeline after new manager Roy Hodgson assured him he still has a future at the club. Daily Mail
Everton boss David Moyes insists South Africa winger Steven Pienaar is not for sale, despite the player being linked with several Premier League clubs, including Tottenham. Daily Mirror
AND FINALLY A SMALL TRIBUTE OF BOLLOX
Ken Barnes
Nationality: English
Cost: nil
Caps: none
Games for City: 283
Goals: 19
PERHAPS still the finest wing-half never to play for England and a man the older generation of City fans still talk about in revered tones.
Father of modern-day City star Peter Barnes, Ken joined the Blues from Stafford Rangers and became a vital cog in the ground-breaking style of play the club pioneeered in the 50s and known as the ‘Revie Plan’.
Barnes played in, and won, a winner’s medal in the 1956 FA Cup final against Birmingham City and in 1957 went into the record books for scoring a hat-trick of penalties in the 6-2 win over Everton at Maine Road.
Known as ‘Beaky’ to his team-mates and fans alike, Barnes was the quintessential players’ player and later went into management at Wrexham and Witton Albion.
In many ways, he was ahead of his time in the way he played the game.
Some would say he was even the prototype of the modern schemers.
He later turned his well-trained eye to talent-spotting and was responsible for bringing Steve Redmond, Paul Lake and David White to City
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