what the papers say

Spurs back in for City skipper?

The Daily Mirror reveal this morning...

'Spurs to make £5m for Manchester City's Richard Dunne in January'

Harry Redknapp is ready to rescue Richard Dunne from his Manchester City nightmare in January.

The £5million-rated skipper has scored two own goals this season and was at fault for the equaliser in City's 2-1 defeat by Spurs on Sunday.

With the new Arab owners keen for European football, there are sure to be changes in the January window.

Redknapp is a big admirer of the centre-back, having tried to lure him to Portsmouth in the summer. Ironically, Spurs also made a huge offer for Dunne at the same time.

On the other side of the transfer fence, The Times tell us...

'Mark Hughes to be given unlimited transfer funds at Manchester City'

Mark Hughes was due to arrive in Abu Dhabi early this morning for his first meeting with Sheikh Mansour since the Arab billionaire’s takeover of Manchester City, but while the manager has had to contend with fierce speculation about his future over the past 72 hours, he will be told that he has the owner’s confidence and will be provided with “unlimited” funds during the January transfer window.

Sheikh Mansour has been unimpressed with City’s start to the season — they have lost seven of 12 Barclays Premier League matches and are a point above the relegation zone — but while he will not stand for such results in the longer term, he is understood to share to an extent the beliefs of Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the chairman, that it will take time to transform the club’s fortunes. Only if City’s position has not improved — or if it has deteriorated — by the end of the season, would Hughes’s position come under intense scrutiny.

“Sheikh Mansour did not get to where he is by acting in an impulsive, irrational or irresponsible way,” a source close to the City owner told The Times yesterday.

“All this talk of Mark Hughes having three, five or however many number of games to save his job, or that replacements are being lined up, is categorically untrue.”

Ideally, Hughes wants to sign six players in the transfer window, when he will seek to bolster a squad that he believes is too lightweight and defensively brittle, as shown by City having conceded at least two goals in six of their past seven matches.

About £35 million is understood to have been earmarked for Roque Santa Cruz, the Blackburn Rovers forward, Lassana Diarra, the Portsmouth midfield player, and Wayne Bridge, the Chelsea left back, Hughes’s principal targets, but Sheikh Mansour is thought to be prepared to spend at least twice that amount as City strive for a European place.

Hughes is determined to convince the owner that, at this stage of the team’s development, the club would be far better investing in established players with proven Premier League experience as opposed to talented young superstars, even if there remains a possibility of another signing in the Robinho mould. Sergio Agüero, the Atlético Madrid and Argentina forward, continues to be linked with City and has been watched by the club’s scouts.

There is an acceptance that signing such players amounts to a long-term project, however, and while Garry Cook, the executive chairman, and Sheikh Mansour’s team are thought to have been working in that area, there are no guarantees that another deal in the manner of the one that brought Robinho to the club can be made.

Hughes, who was expected to arrive in Abu Dhabi at about 7am local time and is expected to board a flight home tonight, received an unwelcome distraction when Elano said he was “unhappy” at being a substitute for City’s past two matches.

Although Elano has been credited with helping Robinho and Jô, his compatriots, to settle in Manchester, the Brazilian has also been cast as an unsettling influence in the dressing-room.

Whether he survives the expected cull in January — with about half a dozen players thought to be on borrowed time — remains to be seen, but al-Mubarak clearly plans to be around for the long haul.

At a board meeting on Sunday, Cook presented al-Mubarak with a 200-page dossier that outlined the club’s perceived shortcomings. Some will take longer to put right, but the club have already set about improving facilities and investing in the academy.

City are committed to selling the naming rights to the City of Manchester Stadium and a number of new commercial and sponsorship deals may be announced soon.

The Independent say...

'City owners told to be less star-struck at January sales'

Hughes heads out to Abu Dhabi believing gradual development is crucial

Manchester City's new owners are being urged not to be dazzled by the big names being floated before them by those seeking to cash in on the riches they have to spend.

Suggestions yesterday that Jose Mourinho has been lined up to replace manager Mark Hughes were dismissed in the strongest terms possible by the club and though there is a feeling that some in Abu Dhabi are seeking headline names to generate the global appeal Sheikh Mansour al-Nahyan wants, the emiracy is being advised by those in Manchester to build more organically. To an extent it is a similar appeal to those which characterised the latter days of Sven Goran Eriksson's ill-fated regime last season, when previous owner Thaksin Shinawatra's entourage were interested in signing Ronaldinho.

A 200-page document prepared by executive chairman Garry Cook and put before the club's new board on Sunday certainly had a focus on the grassroots demands of the club, with the Academy set-up led by youth team coach Jim Cassell featuring prominently. Cook and Hughes arrive in Abu Dhabi today to meet Sheikh Mansour and their principal task appears to be persuading him that development must be gradual and that the players to take them forward – Wayne Bridge, Lassana Diarra and Roque Santa Cruz – will not be household names in the Middle East.

There is frustration around the club that Robinho's name has been drawn into the controversy surrounding his compatriots, Elano, who yesterday provided more evidence of his personal disgruntlement, and Jo, whose night out on the town while supposedly recovering from tonsillitis raises questions. City sources are adamant that Robinho is happy and, though it is no proof of contentment, the £32m signing is understood to have responded to City's charitable work in a way which suggests he has real energy for the club.

Elano's future is less certain. The midfielder enjoyed an outstanding first couple of months after being brought to England from Shakhtar Donetsk last year by Eriksson but his form since then has been patchy.

Yesterday he spoke of his "sadness" at being dropped by Hughes, having played in the defeats against Middlesbrough and Bolton and been substituted in both games. He came off the bench in the Uefa Cup win against FC Twente last week but was an unused substitute in the defeat to Tottenham on Sunday. "When I am playing I know what he [Hughes] wants and when I come off there is nothing from him," Elano said. "It's his right, he is the manager. I respect him and I will keep working, arriving on time and doing my duties at the club, but my sadness is not playing.

"I can't hide that from the fans or the president –who wants to make this a big club. I think I have the capabilities to be playing. I want to help by playing. I respect everyone here. I have many friends here and get on with the team 100 per cent. I respect the manager a lot but I cannot be happy if I don't play."

The chairman, and Sheikh Mansour's personal representative, Khaldoon al Mubarak yesterday promised some "exciting" commercial announcements at the club. He said: "There's a list of things. It gets into playing facilities, accommodation facilities for the players, medical and gym facilities as well. We have a clear plan on how we are going to address these changes."