what the papers say

Boss looking for smart deals in January

The
Manager's looking for the right players at the right price, while
Newcastle are 'battling' to keep Michael Owen, mentioned as a potential
City target.

Daily Telegraph

"Mark Hughes is champing at the bit to spend for Manchester City"

The
angry kick at the ball, delivered by manager Mark Hughes on the final
whistle of his fifth home league defeat of the season, represented one
of the few acts of aggression from a Manchester City employee on yet
another disappointing afternoon. This was a low point for Hughes, given
that defeat came courtesy of Tim Cahill's headed 91st-minute winner and
against an injury-ravaged Everton side fielding without a recognised
forward.

"We have a team that wants to play well every week,
regardless of the injury situation," explained Cahill of a most
unlikely victory. "Sometimes we don't play the prettiest football but
that doesn't matter if you get the points and score the goals like we
did against City. We are a fit team and we keep going and we run teams
down. We run ourselves into the ground and we get the results."

A
stark contrast, in short, to a City team who carry "luxury" items such
as the £18 million Brazilian Jo, whose second-half substitute display
was the latest piece of evidence in the growing case as to why Hughes,
and not his employers, should be spending the vast transfer fortunes
supposedly available next month.

The money at Hughes' disposal
– a figure of £250 million has been bandied about – and what he is
permitted to do with it will determine City's short-term fortunes and
the manager's own job security.

Not surprisingly, given City's
latest display, Hughes is champing at the bit to start spending. "In
January, I would like to be as quick as possible in terms of buying
players," he said.

"We don't want to be going to the last
minute of the transfer window, that doesn't help, sometimes you don't
get the players you want. We want it dealt with pretty quickly.

"There
will be a Manchester City 'premium' on prices, we're aware of that but
the premium will not be significant, I can tell you now. We have a
valuation of players and won't go an enormous amount over that. We
won't be taken advantage of."

The Times

"Joe Kinnear battles to keep Michael Owen at Newcastle United"

Newcastle
United will “fight like hell” to keep Michael Owen at St James’ Park
when Joe Kinnear meets the England forward and his agent tomorrow.
Owen’s £115,000-a-week contract runs out at the end of the season and
Kinnear, the Newcastle manager, is determined to keep him, with
interest from Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and
Everton.

“I have a good relationship with Michael,” Kinnear
said. “He is in a position where he is in control of his future. We’re
sitting down and having a chat with him on Tuesday and we are going to
fight like hell to keep him. He won’t be leaving us [in January]. I
don’t see the point of selling Michael considering the position we are
in. I would sooner have Michael scoring goals than any amount of cash.”

Owen proved his value by scoring the first goal in his team’s
3-0 victory against Portsmouth yesterday as Newcastle won a top-flight
game at Fratton Park for the first time since 1959.