Robinho and Drogba in summer swap deal? |
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'Flog Drog Get Rob'
CHELSEA will sign Manchester City star Robinho at the end of the season and finance the move with the sale of Didier Drogba.
Blues
boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has made it clear the London club MUST buy the
Manchester City star. There was even a chance a deal could have been
struck before the end of the January transfer window but that was
torpedoed by City boss Mark Hughes.
A plan which would have
seen Drogba go to Eastlands for £27million was hatched with City paying
three instalments of £9m for the Ivory Coast striker. That would have
seen Chelsea pay just £6m to bring Robinho to the Bridge. But the swap
floundered after Hughes insisted he wanted Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz
rather than Drogba.
But there are doubts over whether Hughes will still be in charge in the summer which would clear the way for the deal.
A
well-placed source said: “It is all very complicated and there’s a lot
of people involved. Some things could get ugly but Robinho will end up
a Chelsea player in the summer.”
Chelsea will sell Drogba and
expect to get at least £20m for him which would allow them to buy
Robinho while staying within the financial guidelines laid down by
owner Roman Abramovich.
The Russian has ordered an end to
Chelsea’s lavish spending but will sanction a move for the Brazilian.
He withdrew from negotiations last year when City made it clear they
wanted Robinho as a statement signing.
Sources close to Robinho
claim he ‘regrets’ joining City and we understand third parties are
already working on an exit deal which may even see Robinho accept some
from of wage ‘cut’ on his £160,000 a week salary to comply with
Chelsea’s new structure. But his pay would be bolstered with an
improved image rights deal.
Sunday Express...
'CITY £20M FOR ROQUE'
Manchester City believe that a bid of more than £20million will win the battle to sign Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz.
City
boss Mark Hughes is set on landing his major transfer target as he also
attempts to complete the signing of Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given
before tomorrow’s 5pm deadline.
Hughes has already splashed £40m
on Nigel De Jong, Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bridge. But City’s current
£18.5m bid for Santa Cruz has been turned down.
Blackburn boss
Sam Allardyce and chairman John Williams have been adamant that the
striker won’t be sold in this transfer window.
But their stance
will be put to the test again and the City offer, bankrolled by the
club’s wealthy Arab owners, could now top £20m.
Tottenham boss
Harry Redknapp is also interested in taking Santa Cruz to White Hart
Lane if he misses out on unsettled Liverpool ace Robbie Keane.
But City remain confident they’ll land their man.
Sunday Express...
'CITY LACK PHYSICAL PRESENCE - HUGHES'
Manchester
City boss Mark Hughes will intensify his attempts to add further
players to his already expensive squad after a shattering 1-0 defeat at
Stoke.
Ten-man Stoke won their first home game since November,
and ended a run of 13 games without a victory. And against a Manchester
City side, whose starting line-up cost over £90million, it was a major
boost to Stoke's battle to avoid relegation.
"There is a
reluctance to knock balls into the box because we do not have that
physical presence, and defenders are likely to clear balls from those
areas," said Hughes.
"We just didn't create enough chances to
break them down. We had a lot of attack-minded players on the pitch at
the end, we looked for every option, but this time it did not work.
"It is hard to make space on a very tight pitch, one on which Stoke are running hard and closing everyone down."
The
home side's first XI cost less than £10m, but even after Rory Delap was
sent off after 37 minutes, the defiant Potteries side produced a
resilient display to claim three priceless points.
For City
boss Hughes it was a sorry display to witness, 24 hours after
high-level London talks over the club's transfer policy with chairman
Khaldoon al-Mubarak, who was a spectator at the Britannia Stadium.
City
will now try to push through deals to bring goalkeeper Shay Given and
striker Roque Santa Cruz to the club before the transfer deadline on
Monday.
He added: "I've not heard anything more on our transfer targets. Bids are on the table but they have gone no further.
"I
was with the chairman to discuss a plan to go forward, the bids are on
the table (for Given and Santa Cruz). We have not made a bid for Kolo
Toure."
News of the World...
'STEPHEN IRELAND MEGA DEAL'
Midfielder to open talks £60,000-a-week Man City contract
STEPHEN IRELAND is ready to open talks on a mega-money deal that will keep him at Manchester City until 2014.
The midfielder, 22, will discuss DOUBLING his wages to keep him at Eastlands to lead the club into a new era.
Ireland
is expected to be named City’s player of the year after a series of
fine performances placed him head and shoulders above some of his more
celebrated team-mates.
He signed a five-year contract worth
around £30,000-a-week in September, 2007 before a string of
disciplinary issues put his City future in jeopardy.
But after
a sparkling first half of the season, the club’s Arab owners are
believed to be ready to discuss a two-year extension on improved terms,
which would see Ireland’s wages soar to at least £60,000-a-week.
A
source said: “A bigger and better contract for Stephen will be high on
the agenda as soon as the transfer window has drawn to a close.
“The
new owners are committed to rebuilding the club but they also want to
reward the current players like Stephen who are a major part of the
future.”
Daily Star Sunday...
'EXCLUSIVE: MARTIN'S £7M MICAH SWOOP'
Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill will launch a deadline-day £7million swoop for Manchester City defender Micah Richards.
O’Neill is a big admirer of Richards, who can operate at right-back or in the centre of defence.
But the Villa boss had originally planned not to move for the England international, 20, until the summer.
However,
last week’s news that skipper Martin Laursen is likely to be out for at
least two months with a knee injury has left his title challengers
short of cover at the back. O’Neill confirmed yesterday he will attempt
to bring in a quality defender during the final 24 hours of the current
transfer window.
He said: “We are still trying to bring in one before the window closes. We have a lot of games coming up.”
And with time running out he is expected to table a ‘take it or leave it’ offer for Richards first thing tomorrow.
Richards is known to fancy a fresh challenge having lost his England place.
That
makes a switch to Villa all the more attractive given O’Neill’s record
of helping youngsters, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young, into Fabio
Capello’s squad.
News of the World...
'DANIEL STURRIDGE PAY ROW'
MANCHESTER CITY starlet Daniel Sturridge is locked in a pay dispute which looks certain to end in him quitting Eastlands.
The striker, 19, is happy to stay but City are refusing to meet his demand of around £40,000 a week.
And
that will lead to a host of clubs including Chelsea, Aston Villa, Hull,
Portsmouth and Blackburn battling to sign him when his contract expires
in the summer.
City boss Mark Hughes is trying to convince
Sturridge that he has a big future at the club. But City are reluctant
to pay him over the odds because of his lack of experience.
They
are prepared to cough up £20,000 a week with built-in incentives and
salary reviews over the period of a four-year contract.
But
Sturridge is starting to think he might make better progress elsewhere
in view of City’s pursuit of ready-made and highly-paid world stars.
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