Another huge day for City in the transfer market sees a deal for James Milner finally agreed with Stephen Ireland heading to Villa in part exchange. The exact breakdown of the deal isn’t clear with figures of between £16.5m and £18m said to be going to Villa plus extras. Ireland may be getting £1m for his pay-off.
Cardiff are to be congratulated on beating a host of clubs to the loan signing of Craig Bellamy.
With the international friendlies over, it’s back to transfer dealings in what looks like being a busy 48 hours before the season opener against Tottenham.
According to the Birmingham Mail, James Milner was all set to drive up to Manchester last night, until Villa told him otherwise. A hitch regarding Stephen Ireland’s move to Villa was cited as the reason.
Tuttosport came up with some extraordinary quotes yesterday from Emmanuel Adebayor, claiming he is “sorry to leave the Premier League” with Juventus interested in him and the prospect of limited first team opportunities with City. Not surprisingly the club quickly refuted this, pointing out that he has just been given our number nine shirt.
But what if City sign Dzeko or Ibrahimovic? Adebayor’s place as a first-choice striker would then be under threat.
With Mario Balotelli set to join the club and Roque Santa Cruz looking like the striker to make way out of last season’s first team squad it might be reasonable to assume they’re a straight swap. Yet is that the case?
Despite his powerful physique, Balotelli doesn’t play the role of target man which Santa Cruz was supposed to fill. Instead the positions he occupies are closer to those of Craig Bellamy. Namely he’s primarily a striker but often played on the flanks where his pace, skill and powerful shooting allow him to cut in and augment the strikers.
Today sees the Lazio president Claudio Lotito confirm the signing of Javier Garrido rather quicker than he released Aleksandar Kolarov. The Spanish left-back is due to replace Kolarov at Lazio for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £2m. This gives us a rare transfer profit with the player having been signed for £1.5m from Real Socieda
With other teams looking to form their squads for the new season, today brings fresh interest in two strikers who are likely to leave City this Summer.
First we find Jo linked with Blackburn. Big Sam likes a big striker, but Jo is hardly your archetypal target man. Maybe Allardyce believes he can shape Jo’s potential into something more solid and suitable for the Premier League. One thing’s for sure, the shrewd Allardyce won’t be paying the kind of sums Blackburn charged us for Roque Santa Cruz.
Speaking in America, Roberto Mancini again raised the idea of City signing Fernando Torres. With Liverpool officials still trying to convince El Nino to remain on Merseyside, Mancini’s words were interestingly timed.
Chris Wheeler at the Mail claims that City have agreed a £23m fee plus performance related bonuses for Mario Balotelli. This would be a better price than many we have seen reported elsewhere.
Unfortunately City now have to deal with Mino Raiola, the agent for Balotelli (and Ibrahimovic), who is not considered the easiest to negotiate with.
The big news today looks like a deal for Aleksandar Kolarov finally being announced. Il Corriere dello Sport report that a fee of 18 million euros has been agreed, with Lazio having secured a replacement in the form of Luca Antonelli. They go on to say Kolarov is set to link up with the City squad in America on Thursday or Friday.
Unlike our other Summer signings, Kolarov is not a clear A-list player and it will be interesting to see how he fares. His thunderous shot may look good on YouTube, but a couple of mediocre perforamances for Serbia in the World Cup saw him dropped for the final group game.
Football Italia report that Mario Balotelli will not jeopardise his relationship with Inter by asking for a move. Not that he’s had any qualms about upsetting them in the past. Throwing his shirt to the floor at the end of a Champions League game was hardly a crowd pleaser.
Il Corriere dello Sport say the 19-year-old will train today, but wouldn’t be against a move. They’re under the impression that negotiations are set to continue with City willing to up their initial offer.
