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'CITY'S £4m OWEN RAID'
Mark Hughes to test Toon resolve over striker
MANCHESTER CITY will test Mike Ashley’s resolve by making a £4million bid for Michael Owen.
City
manager Mark Hughes has been handed a staggering £40m to spend in the
January sales and is determined to increase his side’s firepower.
West Ham striker Craig Bellamy is also on the City shopping list.
Owen has made it clear he is happy to stay at St James’ Park until his contract runs out at the end of the season.
But
Newcastle owner Ashley fears Owen won’t sign the new four-year deal
he’s been offered and is loathe to see him leave the club on a free
transfer during the summer.
Toon boss Joe Kinnear is desperate to cling on to Owen until the end of the season.
But
Hughes believes Owen’s experience could be vital as he tries to build a
squad capable of living up to expectations of the club’s rich Arab
owners.
Hughes knows he has the funds to prise Bellamy from West Ham’s grasp.
Tottenham
boss Harry Redknapp had a £6m bid for Bellamy turned down on Boxing Day
but Hughes is ready to make the Hammers a £10m offer that they might
find hard to refuse.
Bellamy, who scored twice in West Ham’s
4-1 Boxing Day win at Portsmouth, played for Hughes during his time in
charge of Wales and Blackburn and although he would prefer to stay in
London he might well be tempted by the opportunity to team up with his
old boss — and the bumper salary on offer.
West Ham chief Gianfranco Zola has hinted he may quit if the club sell their top stars during the transfer window.
But
after their win at Portsmouth, Zola admitted: “The club knows how
important Craig is. It is a time of year when things are uncertain for
many teams. It is for us as it is for others.”
Hughes has been
linked with a raid on Blackburn for Roque Santa Cruz, but new Ewood
Park boss Sam Allardyce is determined to hold on to his most valuable
asset.
Sunday Express...
'LIFE IN THE CITY GOLDFISH BOWL SUITS ME FINE, SAYS NO-REGRETS HUGHES'
Mark
Hughes returns to Blackburn today insisting he has no regrets about
leaving the security of Ewood Park for life in the Manchester City
goldfish bowl.
Blackburn was running like clockwork under the former Wales boss as he came to end of his four-year reign.
Now the ticking at Eastlands is more like a time-bomb as he prepares to negotiate the all-important January transfer window.
But
he insisted: “No, I don’t ever wish I was back at Blackburn. It was the
right time in my career to move on and to test myself. I had to make
sure that I was going to a club that would test me and it’s fair to say
we are all being tested now!”
Hughes knows that the patience of
his Abu Dhabi backers is being tested through City’s worrying Premier
League displays, though they will have been heartened by Friday’s
emphatic 5-1 thumping of Hull City.
He will be backed to the hilt in the transfer window but if it goes wrong Hughes will surely lose his job.
“I have no doubts over my ability,” he said. “I have more experience than some of those recent bosses who have lost their jobs.
“We need positive results. At the moment people are emotional and a little hysterical about where we are.”
Today it’s all about trying to put one over his old club as City make the short journey to Ewood Park.
Blackburn’s
new boss Sam Allardyce has a major doubt over skipper Ryan Nelsen ahead
of the clash. The defender suffered a nasty cut over his eye in
Friday’s 0-0 draw at Sunderland, while David Dunn is out with a damaged
hamstring.
Striker Roque Santa Cruz, who has been linked with a
£20million transfer window move to join his old boss at City, continues
to struggle with a calf problem and is not expected to feature.
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