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'Wayne Bridge expected to sign for Manchester City today'
Manchester
City want to push through an £11million deal for Chelsea and England
left-back Wayne Bridge - and that will allow Blues boss Luiz Felipe
Scolari money to get spending.
Bridge is expected to arrive in
Manchester today to put pen to paper on a £70,000- a-week contract. His
personal terms are thought to be a formality.
City boss Mark
Hughes has been unhappy with City's leftbacks since he arrived and -
after being turned down in the past by Chelsea - has now been
encouraged as Roman Abramovich's club needs to sell before they can buy.
And
Hughes is prepared to pay a premium for Bridge because the 28-year-old
will be able to play for them in all competitions - including the UEFA
Cup and FA Cup.
Scolari was reluctant to let Bridge go, but the
Stamford Bridge money men demanded an exit before funding a bid for the
new forward the manager wants.
Chelsea are keen to land Hatem Ben
Arfa from French giants Marseille. His alternative is Middlesbrough's
Tuncay Sanli, but Riverside boss Gareth Southgate says he is not for
sale.
Selling Bridge will leave Chelsea with just Ashley Cole as
a specialist left-back, but they know the City offer is too good to
refuse - and they could snap up a bargain replacement if they feel they
need it.
City have found it hard to do business with Chelsea in
this battle of the new Arab money versus the Russian empire at Stamford
Bridge.
Abramovich was said to be furious after Robinho was talked into joining City ahead of the Londoners.
The Mirror continue with...
'Tottenham, Arsenal and City ready to snap up Shay Given'
Shay
Given is considering his future at Newcastle with Manchester City,
Arsenal and Spurs ready to snap up the Republic of Ireland keeper.
His
lawyer released a statement last night describing the humiliating 5-1
defeat by Liverpool as "the lowest point of his football career".
Given
is also said to be disillusioned at the "turmoil on and off the pitch"
at Newcastle, where he has been for 11 years and played for an
astonishing nine bosses.
Fans will have plenty of sympathy with Given, 32.
His patience reached breaking point with the Liverpool debacle, in which he made several world-class saves.
Given's solicitor Michael Kennedy admitted his future is up in the air and the likelihood is he will leave Newcastle this month.
He could cost up to £8million and his able deputy Steve Harper would get the chance to be No.1.
The Times add...
'City in new attempt to sign Parker'
West
Ham United were considering Manchester City’s revised offer for Scott
Parker last night after an initial joint £15 million bid for the
midfield player and Craig Bellamy was turned down.
City are
thought to have offered about £8 million for Parker, who has returned
to fitness and form during this campaign after being sidelined on three
separate occasions for extended periods with a knee injury last season.
City are also waiting to hear whether Wayne Bridge is willing to join
them after it was confirmed last night that talks were taking place
over a £10 million deal for the Chelsea left back. Bridge, who earns
£88,000 a week at Chelsea, will have to take a pay cut if he is to join
City.
Parker, who has made 19 appearances in all competitions
this season, has not been angling for a move, but his £75,000-a-week
wages are problematic for West Ham, who are trying to cut costs.
He
moved to Upton Park for £7 million from Newcastle United 18 months ago
to be reunited with Alan Curbishley, his former manager at Charlton
Athletic.
Gianfranco Zola, Parker’s present manager, has
suggested that the player is worthy of a recall to the England squad,
despite not having featured for the national team since the 2-0 defeat
away to Croatia in a European Championship qualifying match in October
2006.
And finally The Independent tell us...
'Valencia will sell Villa if City offer is 'exorbitant''
La Liga club's financial problems signals opportunity for England's nouveau riche
As
the rest of the Premier League waits for Manchester City to open their
cheque book, Valencia have admitted that their precarious financial
situation means that they would be forced to consider any offer for
David Villa, one of City's potentially most expensive targets, in the
January transfer window.
Valencia's sporting vice-president,
Fernando Gomez Colomer, refused to rule out a sale. He said: "Whatever
offer comes in we will have to study it although the idea is not to
have to sell David Villa or David Silva. It would have to be an
exorbitant offer."
City's ambitions for the remainder of this
season will be measured largely by which striker they buy this month. A
Jermain Defoe or a Craig Bellamy would be expected to pull them clear
of any relegation battle but signing the winner of the Golden Boot at
Euro 2008 would signal their intentions of moving to another level.
Having scored over a 100 goals for Valencia in just over four and a
half seasons, Villa is the club's prized asset but they remain in
severe financial difficulties having been denied any more credit by
their bank, Bancaja. They are still unable to close a deal on the sale
of the site of their Mestalla stadium and are supposed to be moving to
a new stadium on the outskirts of the city next year. Sale of land for
apartments at the Mestalla was supposed to finance the new stadium.
"We
will fight to give the club the economic stability that it needs. Right
now that is the most important thing - more than any kind of sporting
success," said the club's president, Vicente Soriano.
Valencia
have in the past fended off interest in Villa from Chelsea and
Liverpool, aided by the striker's preference for staying in Spain. They
were also on the brink of accepting a bid from Manchester United for
Silva last summer. The versatile left-sided attacker rejected the
chance to move to Old Trafford because, like Villa, he wanted to remain
in La Liga.
Ultimately, Valencia's need to cash in on players
this month may depend on whether or not they are successful in selling
their current stadium and gaining an advance on the estimated €300m
(£289m) price. Soriano says that he has a buyer, but the purchasing
company does not want to want to pay up front for land they will not be
able to use until summer 2010 when Valencia finally move into their new
stadium.
While Valencia do their best to keep their top names,
Real Madrid's interest in signing Wigan's Antonio Valencia has
increased after their extraordinary transfer-window error.
Winning
the Champions League is now seen as the club's best chance of a trophy
this season and Real's sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic, whose job
appears to depend on it, has busily added Lassana Diarra from
Portsmouth and Klass-Jan Huntelaar from Ajax to the side on the
understanding that both would be eligible for the Champions League
having not played in the competition this season.
However, the
rules of European football's governing body, Uefa, also state that a
club can only register one player who has already played in the Uefa
Cup for the Champions League in January. Now Real must pick between
Diarra and Huntelaar and abandon all hopes of signing Aston Villa's
Ashley Young, who has also played in the Uefa Cup.
The Real
coach, Juande Ramos, is now understood to prefer Valencia from their
dwindling selection of options, although the clubs are light years
apart in valuation, with Wigan rating the player at £15m and Mijatovic
keen on taking him on loan.
Barcelona are, understandably,
enjoying watching their great rivals suffer. Only David Beckham's move
to join Ronaldinho at Milan being dubbed "los Galacticos to los
Geriatricos" has caused more amusement than Real's misunderstanding of
Uefa's transfer regulations.
The midfielders Xavi and Sergi
Busquets have both signed new deals for the La Liga leaders and Yaya
Touré will not be allowed to leave, even if Arsenal come calling. But a
move for Atletico Madrid's Argentine striker Sergio Aguero is
considered a possibility for next summer.
Spanish gold: Who Premier League clubs could plunder
Goalkeeper
Carlos
Kameni is out of contract in the summer. The Cameroon keeper remains
Espanyol's first choice and they must decide between selling him for
around £3m now or losing him for free at the end of the season.
Defenders
Ivan
Helguera has been released by Valencia and is understood to have
received offers from one Premier League club as well as David Beckham's
LA Galaxy. Current Spain international Juanito is free to negotiate a
move away from Betis.
Full-back
Bruno Saltor will leave
Almeria for nothing at the end of the season so the club will listen to
offers for the 28-year-old in January. Bruno was superb under former
manager Unai Emery as Almeria had an outstanding first season in the
top flight last year and he could rejoin Emery at Valencia.
Midfielder
Diego
Capel remains in and out of Seville's first team despite attracting
interest from the Premier League in the summer and stepping up to the
Spain squad.
Striker
Mohamed Tchite is Racing Santander'stop scorer with five goals in 11 starts but the club will listen to
offers for the Congo striker after sealing the return of giant Serbian
forward Nicola Zigic.
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