Friday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

City chiefs ready to take £50m hit
MANCHESTER CITY chiefs have decided to take a £50million hit on five players.
The world's richest club will listen to offers in the January transfer window for Emmanuel Adebayor, Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Roque Santa Cruz and Jo.
Keeper Shay Given will also be made available — but for the £7m he was originally bought for.
All six stars were signed by Mark Hughes, City boss Roberto Mancini's predecessor, at a total cost of £87.5million.
But few have figured regularly this season and Mancini fears the presence of some of them is having a negative influence at the club.
City chief executive Garry Cook and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak discussed the transfer window with Mancini before flying to Abu Dhabi to meet owner Sheikh Mansour for a board meeting.
There, they delivered Mancini's plans for the restructuring of the squad for a second-half title push.
They include landing two new strikers, with Wolfsburg's Bosnian frontman Edin Dzeko topping the list as a £35m target.
City will take the biggest hits on strikers Adebayor, 26, and Santa Cruz, 29.
Adebayor cost £25m from Arsenal but is available for £12m after failing to set the world alight following his move in July 2009.
Paraguayan Santa Cruz, meanwhile, was an £18m buy from Hughes' former club Blackburn but will be up for grabs at a mere £4m.
City, though, seem prepared to make losses in all areas of the pitch.
Left-back Bridge, 30, cost £12m from Chelsea in January 2009 but City will now accept £5m.
And then there is winger Wright-Phillips, 28, who returned for a second spell at City following an £8.5m move to Stamford Bridge in August 2008.
He spoke about his desire to see it out at City this season but talks on a new deal have stalled and the club will take £5m for him.
The £17m deal for Brazilian flop Jo, 23, was agreed by former boss Sven Goran Eriksson but completed under Hughes and City know they will now be lucky to get £4m.
In fact, the only player City bosses want their full money back on is Given, 34, who they bought from Newcastle in January 2009.
The Republic of Ireland stopper lost his place to Joe Hart at the start of the season and said this week he had to get a move in the New Year.
Ironically, Given will play his first Premier League game of the season away to Fulham on Sunday when he replaces Hart, who is out for a week with a back injury picked up on England duty.
What City will not do is compensate the highly-paid players if they move. The six stars in question earn between £60,000 and £130,000 a week and will struggle to get the same wages elsewhere.
But City will tell them and their agents they are knocking down asking prices, so the players can get the moves they want - and return to action again.
In short, any make-up in wages will have to be organised with the buying club.
City have already lost just over £10m this year on British record signing Robinho, who was bought for £32.5m and sold to AC Milan for £22m in August.
And striker Craig Bellamy, 31, a £14m buy from West Ham, is currently on loan at Cardiff.
But the City hierarchy are determined to back Mancini in his plans despite outside pressures.
Mancini told the club's board in the summer it was his way or no way if he was going to continue as manager.
City lie fourth in the table after an incredible £320m investment in the squad in just over two years. SUN

Manchester City delegation look to discuss deal for Barcelona defender Dani Alves
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... Alves.html

Tottenham and Manchester City are interested in Fulham's 18-year-old winger Keanu Marsh-Brown. The teenager's contract at Craven Cottage expires at the end of the season.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... Brown.html

Italian striker Mario Balotelli claims he may leave Manchester City in the summer after saying he is only committed to the Eastlands club until June - despite signing a five-year contract.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Tr ... 31655.html

TRANSFER BOLLOX
Everton and Liverpool are both set to launch bids for out-of-favour Tottenham midfielder Niko Kranjcar in the January transfer window. Spurs are believed to want £4m for the Croatia international. Talksport

Liverpool are also reportedly on the trail of two Swedish defenders - FC Copenhagen's Oscar Wendt and FC Basel's Behrang Safari. Daily Mirror

Everton are tracking Sporting Lisbon winger Yannick Djalo and could make a move for the 24-year-old in the January transfer window. Talksport

Manchester United have opened talks over the signing of Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David De Gea. The 20-year-old would cost the Old Trafford club £15m. Talksport

Meanwhile, former United keeper Peter Schmeichel says Anders Lindegaard, the man who the Red Devils have lined up to replace Edwin van der Sar, is not good enough to play at Old Trafford. Denmark keeper Lindegaard, 26, has provisionally agreed to move to United in January for £3.5m. the Guardian

Manchester United are facing a struggle to retain the services of another key player, with left-back Patrice Evra eager to secure a move to Spain at the end of the season. the Times

West Brom are to open talks with centre-back Gabriel Tamas over an improved three-year deal to ward off interest from Chelsea. the Sun

Wigan goalkeeper Chris Kirkland wants to sign for Championship side Leicester permanently if his proposed loan spell is a success. Daily Mirror

Winger Jermaine Pennant is trying to thrash out a deal with his Spanish side Real Zaragoza so he can make his loan move to Stoke permanent in January. Daily Mail

Liverpool could demand almost £500,000 compensation from the Football Association to cover Steven Gerrard's wages while the midfielder recovers from a hamstring injury he suffered during England's friendly defeat by France on Wednesday. the Sun

Portsmouth are enlisting the help of Fifa to reclaim the £900,000 they claim they are owed by Inter Milan over the transfer of midfielder Sulley Muntari. Daily Star

Bolton striker Kevin Davies asked his Twitter followers for advice on how to cook Pop Tarts after admitting he kept burning them in his toaster. the Sun

Javier Hernandez has revealed how Sir Alex Ferguson made him cry - before he had even joined Manchester United. The 22-year-old striker could not hold back the tears when the United boss confirmed he wanted to sign him. Hernandez insists the move might never have happened because he almost quit football amid fears he wasn't good enough. Daily Star

[Crossie]

Mario might leave in June?

Oh ffs give me a break.

He's played 3 games and scored 3 goals, injured then suspended.

I reckon he will still get 20 goals

[blues-clues]

The Gerrard injury is interesting. I thought the FA had to pay compensation if players were injured on international duty and had an insurance policy to cover exactly that eventuality. I dont give a shit about Liverpool but if the same happened to us with one of our key players...Hart for instance.....I would be pretty miffed if they were injured prior to or during a pointless international. It is not jsut about the wages though is it. A key player might have won you two or three additional points during the time they are off injured and at the end of the season that might be the difference between getting a CL place or not and the lost revenue might then run to tens of millions. Be interesting to see what stance Liverpool's new owners take with the FA if they dont win a game while Gerrard is crocked.

[Ted Hughes]

Mario might leave in June?

Oh ffs give me a break.

He's played 3 games and scored 3 goals, injured then suspended.

I reckon he will still get 20 goals

I think you could be right about the 20 goals but only if he plays enough without being sent off every other game, which is borderline. Whether he'll be here next season is another matter, dependant, I recon, on us finishing top 4 & keeping Mancini. Both their futures at City may be dependant on each other.

[ashton287]

I think people are over reacting to balotelli. Yeah he is a dick and he will get cards but your all getting carried away thinking he is going to get a red every other game.

If we get top 4 and get rid of the fluffers in the squad so we can bring in stronger players then i think balotelli wont want to leave and if anything i think it will be more likely that zlatan comes to us instead.

[MaineRoadMemories]

Adebayor cost £25m from Arsenal but is available for £12m

Yeah, a Premier League forward, aged 26, whose scored 61 goals in 136 appearances is only worth £12million. Okay.

[john68]

I'm not sure on what date the UeFA financial regulations begin to be considered but this looks like simply getting them off the books to make them balance a little better. It doesn't even look like we are making any attempt to recoup what they may be worth.

That's if any of these reports are accurate and not just media guesswork.

[Ted Hughes]

I'm not sure on what date the UeFA financial regulations begin to be considered but this looks like simply getting them off the books to make them balance a little better. It doesn't even look like we are making any attempt to recoup what they may be worth.

That's if any of these reports are accurate and not just media guesswork.

I think they're media guesswork but I also think they're probably not far from the truth because we need a squad of 20 odd players who can actually contribute & rotate in & out of the 1st 11 without significantly devaluing the team . Most of the players listed, whether by their own fault or Mancini's, can't do that, so it's logical to swap them for players that can.

[Wooders]

I think we're probably letting them go for such small amounts to cover wages etc ?

[Chinners]

The Gerrard injury is interesting. I thought the FA had to pay compensation if players were injured on international duty and had an insurance policy to cover exactly that eventuality. I dont give a shit about Liverpool but if the same happened to us with one of our key players...Hart for instance.....I would be pretty miffed if they were injured prior to or during a pointless international. It is not jsut about the wages though is it. A key player might have won you two or three additional points during the time they are off injured and at the end of the season that might be the difference between getting a CL place or not and the lost revenue might then run to tens of millions. Be interesting to see what stance Liverpool's new owners take with the FA if they dont win a game while Gerrard is crocked.

Like anyone else that is off sick from work Gerrard should just get £79.15 per week from the FA. If Liverpool want to top up his wages then thats up to them imo

[Ted Hughes]

The Gerrard injury is interesting. I thought the FA had to pay compensation if players were injured on international duty and had an insurance policy to cover exactly that eventuality. I dont give a shit about Liverpool but if the same happened to us with one of our key players...Hart for instance.....I would be pretty miffed if they were injured prior to or during a pointless international. It is not jsut about the wages though is it. A key player might have won you two or three additional points during the time they are off injured and at the end of the season that might be the difference between getting a CL place or not and the lost revenue might then run to tens of millions. Be interesting to see what stance Liverpool's new owners take with the FA if they dont win a game while Gerrard is crocked.

Like anyone else that is off sick from work Gerrard should just get £79.15 per week from the FA. If Liverpool want to top up his wages then thats up to them imo

The prospect of that happening if injured would certainly show us who really wants to play for England & cares & who just wants to see his name on an England shirt. Be a few withdrawals from the squad I recon!