City making move for Owen |
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England striker is on his way - but not until the summer! Elsewhere,
the boss accepts the focus on him & the club, tells some of the
squad to pick themselves up and is said to be making a move for Craig
Bellamy -
Daily Express
"Owen shakes hands on a move to City"
Michael Owen has a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with Manchester City to sign for the richest club in the world this summer.
Owen
has held talks with City officials, including manager Mark Hughes, in
the last few weeks and told them he will join the Abu Dhabi-owned club,
on the condition that they remain in the Premier League.
Just
before Christmas, Owen, 29, announced he would not sign a new long-term
deal at Newcastle in order to leave his options open.
None of
the ‘big four’ clubs have expressed a desire to sign him this summer,
but City have agreed to meet his £90,000-a-week wage demands and as
long as Owen stays fit between now and the end of the season a deal, in
principle, has been agreed.
Owen has scored only 29 goals in
all competitions since moving to St James’ Park three-and-a-half years
ago, but has remained largely injury free this season.
The Mirror
"Hughes loves pressure of running City circus"
Mark
Hughes has insisted he is loving the pressure of managing Manchester
City - despite a series of poor results and disillusioned players
plotting behind his back.
He is under pressure at the world's
richest club, with City struggling in the bottom-half of the Premier
League and having fallen at the first hurdle in the FA and Carling
Cups.
But Hughes said: "You have to remember I've been an
international manager with Wales and had the hopes of a nation on my
shoulders so there was a lot of pressure to deal with.
"But that was on a monthly basis, whereas there's a big focus on what we do here on a daily basis.
"So I welcome this kind of pressure and scrutiny.
There are demands and expectations, but all of that stimulates me.
"It enables myself and my staff to really focus our minds and work better."
The Sun
"Raise your game or get out"
MARK HUGHES has told his Manchester City flops to shape up or ship out.
The City boss says it is time for the players to rise to the challenge of being part of the world’s richest club.
Too many at City have shrivelled under the pressure, fearing they will be axed as the cash is splashed.
Others
have found the challenge of Hughes’ strict training regime too much of
a shock after the laid-back tenure of Sven Goran Eriksson.
But
Hughes, whose side visit Portsmouth today, said: “The players need to
rise to any challenge presented to them by the football club — and not
be deflated by it.
“They should have that ambition and look at the players that come in and see if they can match them and attain their standards.
“If
you are not that way inclined it can only be a demotivating factor If
you are a player that likes a challenge you will be OK.
”If you are the type who bows down in the face of a challenge than it might be different.
"We want players who will rise to the challenge and not ones who are going to be put off by it.
"Bringing
new quality players to your football clubs should please you as that
will make you more successful as a squad and as an individual.”
Players like Elano, Jo, Richard Dunne, Micah Richard and, Darius Vassell have all had poor seasons.
For all Robinho’s goals, he can also go missing if City fall behind.
Hughes
was as subtle as he could be when he said: “I wouldn’t say a
considerable number of players have not risen to the challenge
“There
are some players who have not performed like they can.” Hughes has come
under the spotlight since Sheikh Mansour’s takeover of the club on
transfer deadline day last August.
But, unlike some of his players, Hughes has embraced the pressure.
He added: “There is a big focus on what we do and it is on a weekly basis.
“I’ve
been an international manager and had the hopes of a nation on my
shoulders — so there was a lot of pressure to deal with there. But that
was on a monthly basis whereas this is on a daily basis.
“The Premier League is a huge league and there is a huge amount of interest created in what goes on.
“So
it is not something I’ve been surprised at. In fact, it was something I
was looking forward to when I got the job — it was one of the main
reasons I left Blackburn."
The Mirror
"Craig Bellamy heads to Manchester City after £10m offer"
Craig Bellamy is on his way to Manchester City – after boss Mark Hughes made a new £10million-plus bid to see off Tottenham.
The
Welsh ace, 29, should be reunited with his old Wales and Blackburn
Rovers manager over the weekend as West Ham prepare to accept the new
offer.
City’s bid includes cash up front plus extra money in
bonuses and the Hammers seem sure to sell him and then keep hold of as
many of their other players as possible.
Hughes has been backed
to buy Bellamy by his club’s money men, but they have yet to increase
their offers for team-mates Scott Parker and Matthew Upson, while moves
for Kolo Toure and Roque Santa Cruz are uncertain.
Bellamy’s way
to Manchester was cleared as City finally made a bid for him alone –
and put in a valuation better than Harry Redknapp’s Spurs, who were
still in the hunt despite signing Jermain Defoe.
Hammers will let
the striker know their decision today but it looks likely that he is
going to team up with Hughes again – and gives the club’s coffers a
badly-needed boost.
and Upson and sell just one of their so-called superstars, making the
books balance by letting other fringe men go.
The Zarate kid |
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Zarate, who scored half of his goals while on loan at St Andrews
against City last season, is a new name to be added to the papers' list
of our targets. Elsewhere, Wayne Bridge settles in and our bid for
Santa Cruz gets turned down.
Daily Telegraph
"Manchester City target Lazio's Mauro Zarate"
The
diminutive striker, who impressed on loan at Birmingham last season, is
currently at Lazio but his registration is owned by the Qatari club Al
Sadd.
His stunning form for the Italian side has turned him
into one of Serie A's most in-demand players and his representative,
Jose Alberti, has revealed City are preparing a bid to bring him to
Eastlands.
Alberti said: "The Arabs who own the club are
interested in him. We spoke last month and they told me they were ready
to offer £30 million to buy him.
"Their aim is to get to the
same level as Real Madrid were at during the 'galactico' era. But the
player is Lazio's to lose. Mauro loves Rome and will sign a permanent
deal as long as the club make a suitable offer."
Mark Hughes
revealed yesterday City had seen a second, improved offer for Roque
Santa Cruz, believed to be £16 million, rejected by Blackburn. It is
expected that the Eastlands club will table a third bid, in the region
of £18 million, with a view to completing the deal early next week.
Should Rovers reject City's third offer, Hughes is expected to walk
away from the deal.
Hughes also confirmed initial bids for West
Ham pair Scott Parker and Craig Bellamy had been turned down, but that
is unlikely to put an end to City's pursuit of the pair.
The
club are thought to have turned to Everton's Joleon Lescott after
growing frustrated with the fruitless chase for Arsenal's Kolo Toure.
But Hughes dampened down speculation linking him to moves for Juventus
striker David Trezeguet and Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given.
Hughes
said: "It will come to a point where we will have to make a decision
[on Santa Cruz] and that could be the decision to walk away."
Hughes also dismissed reports that he was considering whether to take the captaincy away from Richard Dunne.
Daily Mirror
"Wayne Bridge: I will prove at Manchester City I'm better than Ashley Cole"
Wayne
Bridge has vowed to prove himself a better player than Ashley Cole and
show Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari he was wrong to let him go.
Bridge,
who was officially unveiled as a Manchester City player yesterday
following his £12million move, accused Scolari of not giving him a fair
chance to prove himself at Stamford Bridge.
And Bridge, 28, who
will make his City debut tomorrow in their Premier League visit to
Portsmouth, is determined to emerge from Cole's shadow at both club and
international level.
"I definitely didn't get a fair chance under the new boss at Chelsea," said Bridge.
"There was a time when I put together a string of games but then Ashley came straight back in.
"I
just felt that it was never going to work for me there and I was always
on the phone to my agent saying 'I don't think it's going to happen'.
It was the first time he felt it wasn't as well and it was time to move.
"Maybe
Scolari thought Ashley was better than me. That's the way football
goes. I had opportunities to play and I thought I did well, but no
matter how well I played I was never going to establish myself there.
"So
it was time to move. I'm excited about being at City and it looks like
big things are going to happen at the club. I'm always motivated, I
always like to work hard and I'm sure everyone here will see that."
Asked
if he could replace Cole as England's regular left-back following his
move to City, Bridge said: "I hope so. First of all I've got to start
playing well for Manchester City. Then we'll see what happens.
"I
wouldn't necessarily come out and say I'm better than Ashley, but I
like to think I'm up there with him and I like to think the players I
trained with felt I was just as good as him as well.
"The England
situation has been at the back of my mind but I was thinking about
playing football regularly when I decided to join City. Every player
wants to play for their country, not sit on the bench, and I'm no
different."
Despite seeing his wages rise from £70,000 a week at
Chelsea to £95,000 a week at City, Bridge claimed the decisive factor
in making the move was the potential of the club under Hughes and their
oil-rich owner Sheikh Mansour.
The record-breaking £32.5m signing
of Robinho was a sign of City's intent and Bridge claimed the club can
join the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal as
title contenders in the coming years.
"I hope we'll be
challenging those teams," said Bridge. "That's why I'm here. The
manager has told me where he wants this club to go, and everything he
has said has been positive."
Daily Mail
"Santa Cruz pleads to go, but Blackburn want £18m from Manchester City"
Roque
Santa Cruz has made it clear he is anxious to quit Blackburn for
Manchester City. The Paraguayan international's representatives spelled
it out to the Lancashire club again on Wednesday, but on Thursday night
the two clubs remained in deadlock.
With City manager Mark Hughes
revealing that a £17million buy-out clause in Santa Cruz's contract
will kick in only in the summer, it is clear that the world's richest
club are going to have to edge closer to £20m to secure a deal for the
28-year-old striker.
Hughes outlined his frustration when he
said: 'There is an escape clause in his contract, but the release
clause doesn't come in until the summer.
'We have bid a
realistic figure, but that is clearly a different figure from what they
think they require to allow a player to leave. We accept that.
'We
are just trying to make it happen now but there is a certain level that
we won't go above and there may come a time when we just walk away.'
is understood that City have bid upwards of £16m, but have been told
that it will take an offer of more than £18m before Blackburn will
consider letting him go. City defender Tal Ben Haim may yet be part of
the deal.
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