Agents fees announced

From the official site:

In line with the Football Association Agent's Regulations, Manchester City Football Club hereby disclose details of agents' fees paid over the past year as being £12,875,283.

The figures, being released by all Premier League clubs today, have been verified and reconciled by The Football Association, and include fees paid to agents for incoming as well as outgoing transfers, the renegotiation of existing player registrations as well as fees paid to agents during the stated period, but which relate to transactions predating it.

The amount paid covers the period 1 October 2008-30 September 2009 and the making public of the figures is a requirement of the Premier League, which all clubs have to adhere to.

The Premier League confirmed that the fees paid cover all of the following:

• Fees paid to agents by Clubs in respect of acquiring and/or renegotiating Player Registrations.
• Fees paid to agents by Clubs on behalf of players in respect of acquiring and/or renegotiating Player Registrations.
• Fees paid to agents during the defined period relating to previous transaction costs (i.e. Player Registrations prior to 1st October 2008) that have been amortised over the length of a Player Contract.
• Fees paid to agents by Clubs to facilitate the outward transfer of Player Registrations.
  

The figures relate to all permanent and loan signings, first contracts and re-negotiations/extension of existing contracts.

It is quite a staggering amount to be paid out, but not surprising considering the level of transfer fees that we have paid out this summer, the January transfer window and even back to the summer of 2008 (when Sven-Goran Eriksson arrived) as the club confirmed that payments included relate to a total of 35 transactions, some of which predated the past year.

The overall figures show that our total of £12,875,283 is 18% of the total amount of £70,692,513 paid out by Premier League clubs. No surprise then that we comfortably top the table, paying out around £3million more than Chelsea (in second place) and 50% more than Liverpool in third place:

Arsenal	£4,760,241
Aston Villa	£1,708,374
Birmingham City	£974,982
Blackburn Rovers	£1,610,885
Bolton Wanderers	£3,166,611
Burnley	£468,398
Chelsea	£9,562,223
Everton	£2,008,407
Fulham	£1,469,258
Hull City	£1,599,188
Liverpool	£6,657,305
Manchester City	£12,874,283
Manchester United	£1,517,393
Portsmouth	£3,184,725
Stoke City	£716,042
Sunderland	£2,007,040
Tottenham Hotspur	£6,066,935
Wigan Athletic	£5,527,548
West Ham United	£3,576,972
Wolverhampton Wanderers	£1,235,703
Total (across 803 transactions)	£70,692,513

The club have spoken of the past transfer window comprising what in effect was a number of transfer windows such was the opportunity to land the players we did, and of course bringing in the amount of players we have in such a short time was always going to affect the amount paid to agents as a result:

“As has previously been stated by our Chief Executive Garry Cook, the level of player acquisition over the past year has been unprecedented as we have sought to rebuild our playing squad.

Squad building at this level and within such a short time frame is unlikely to be repeated. The figure in question relates to payments made for 35 players, many of whom predate this time period. The fees represent an average of £360,000 per transaction, and the total amount falls well within our annual budget and operating plan as approved by our board.”

It may 'only' represent £360,000 per transaction, but that is a nice spin put on matters given the wide scope of business it represents. If you look at the individual transfers we have completed - namely Robinho, Adebayor, Lescott and particularly Tevez, we undoubtedly paid out some serious money to facilitate these moves, although there are no figures released that relate to individual transfers which is a pity as we could perhaps get a clearer, more rounded view of exactly what was paid out, and maybe more importantly, to whom.

Richards linked with United

And if City decide to offload the versatile defender, then United are ready to bid for him.

Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson is a huge admirer of Richards and tried to sign him when he first broke on the scene.

Ferguson is considering his options at right-back with growing concerns about Gary Neville’s fitness and Rafael Da Silva’s ability.

Ferguson believes his strict man-management could control Richards and United are hoping to do business if City will sell to them.

>>mirror.co.uk

So this comes days after Hughes publicly stated Richards was not for sale; and then recalls him to the side.

Even if he was to give up on him and ship him out of the club, would a move to United really be sanctioned?

No prizes for the answer.

de Jong - 'It's on us'

"I would love to give you a reason - if I could give you the reason, we would win all of our games," he said. Maybe there is a lack of confidence in some situations. We try to keep our confidence high, especially when we play at home. We are frustrated but have to continue to build for the future, and these kinds of games are always hard to play.

"There are a few factors, but we have to give more in every line of our game - midfield, defence and attack. It's a team thing and we have to work harder and harder to get where we want to be.

"It was disappointing to play at home again and to concede in the 80th minute. It was also the seventh draw, so we don't get any closer to the top four. Now it is up to us to take it on the chin and come out fighting on Wednesday."

>>Nigel de Jong.

FA Cup 3rd round draw

CITY will be away to Middlesbrough in the third round of the FA Cup, sponsored by E.ON, in January.

The tie will take place on the first weekend of the New Year with a date and kick-off to be announced on mcfc.co.uk as soon as television schedules have been confirmed. Ticket details will then be published.

>>mcfc.co.uk

An away tie against a bogey side is not the ideal draw you want.

That said, it is one that we should progress from.

Full draw.

Hull reaction

For me, Norfstander has rapidly become one of the 'must read' City opinions in the blogosphere and he has an excellent post up at the moment as a reaction to some of the opinion and comment that eminated in the wake of yesterday's draw.

The morning's press line is very much of the Hughes is on borrowed time, with the 'Hughes out' commentators very much in force over at the MEN, but he makes a very good point with regards to the fact that it isn't simply a case of blindly supporting Hughes but looking at the bigger (and more long term) future:

What they don't seem to understand is that there are huge expanses of middle ground. Those of us pointing out that even the suggestion of a change at the top is reactionary and daft see Hughes' flaws, that's always been the case, and we all agree that what we're getting at the minute isn't good enough. None of us blindly defend the manager for the sake of doing so, we've just seen where these sort of decisions have gotten us in the past, and believe in giving whoever is in charge a fair crack of the whip.

Yesterday's game marked the third point mark of the season. Of course, seven draws on the spin is frustrating - moreso than disappointing I would argue. Yet we still sit in sixth place, and this season has seen our most consistent set of league placings for many years. There is also the very real possibility of progressing through to the semi-final of the Carling Cup this coming week.

The money that has been pumped into the club has of course raised expectation levels, but without an acceptance that progression does take time. Overnight success is rarely attained, and if it is, it is often built on no foundation or basis.

Hughes and ADUG have been in tandem at the club for some sixteen months now. The progress that has been made both on and off the pitch is evident all around the club. Everything we have heard from the ownership suggests they have an aim of where they want the club to be, and equally have a structured plan in place for how this is to be achieved.

I would suggest that in terms of progression on the pitch during 2009/10, we are at least hitting the expectations laid out at the start of the season. If anything, the early season results raised hopes unrealistically.

Short term solutions are very easy to identify with, the long term approach less so but I think it is clear that we are on the right path.

The frustration of recent weeks should not deviate from that.

Hughes reaction to the Hull point

"Of course it is a disappointing run we're on, because we're failing to see out victories when we have the lead.

We're trying to get something started here but at times we look exactly what we are, a side that has been thrown together very quickly. That means we'll have bad days among the good ones.

"But we're still very much in touch with the teams at the top of the league. We've just got to keep going and the wins will come."

City 1 Hull 1

The danger at holding a 1-0 and not killing a side off when you are in the ascendancy is that you run the risk of allowing your opponents back into the game.

Today was a perfect example of this and what should have been a return to winning ways to start an important week results in the sense of frustration continuing.

It shouldn't have come to this of course given our dominance over the first hour of the game, in particular the first half which was our best for some time. It was reward perhaps for a more attacking approach adopted by Mark Hughes; Zabaleta, Barry and Bellamy made way for Richards, Tevez and the returning Robinho.

It was Robinho who was largely instrumental in our first half performance. The side showed fantastic movement and interchange play with Robinho, Ireland and Tevez all moving around to great effectiveness. We attacked with pace and purpose, creating ourselves some great positions yet just lacked a cutting edge.

Having got the lead on the stroke of half-time however, this should have been the spur to kick on and put the game beyond reach early in the second half. Not to be however, and despite their frailties, if a side has the likes of Bullard and Hunt they are likely to be able to create at least one opportunity.

The penalty may well have been questionable, but by no means could you argue it wasn't one. We were then left with little time to try and re-group and restore our lead. It was not to be.

Questions I'm sure will be asked of the defence once again - particularly in terms of their concentration, but this was one of our better performances at the back.

Far more worrying is the fact that despite the quality in the attacking positions we are showing either the ruthlesness or clinical nature needed to be a top four side. Seven successive draws bears this out, and we have thrown away leads in our last three home games against Fulham, Burnley and now Hull - all games we should be winning of course.

This aspect, as much as anything is the one we need to rectify to get the season back on course.

Hughes - 'Richards going nowhere'

"Micah's not going anywhere in January or at any time. He's a big part of what we're trying to do here."

"He's still a very young man, and his football experience is great for someone of so few years. People sometimes don't give him enough credit for what he's achieved up to this point in his career.

"But he knows he's nowhere near the finished article. There's a huge amount of potential still to be tapped in to. It's down to me and it's down to my coaches to bring that out of him."

"His physical attributes lend themselves to so many positions on the field of play. We have to make sure that he's training and playing correctly and learning every day. Without a shadow of a doubt, he'll grow and develop as an outstanding player."

>>Mark Hughes on Micah Richards.

Hull preview

Back on home turf, and welcoming the side who went into meltdown following (or during if you are Phil Brown) a heavy defeat in the corresponding fixture in 2008/09.

A first half shellacking resulted in the bizarre sight of Brown conducting his team talk on the pitch, a move that endeared him to virtually no-one in the game and hardly resulted in galvanising his side into action either in that fixture or the remainder of the season as they dropped like a stone down the table, barely surviving the drop back to the Championship in the process.

The draw last weekend at Anfield was a classic case of the 'half full, half empty' argument. Many view it is a good point won at a difficult place to visit. Equally, however, many view it as two points dropped from a position of strength (taking the lead with fifteen or so minutes remaining).

This has of course led to grumblings in the press about a disappointing lack of ambition being shown; that top four ambitions are some way off for the rich pretenders.

Perhaps there is a nerviness in our play at the moment though. This could make matters difficult tomorrow. Very much like the last visitors to Eastlands - Burnley - Hull travel with a woeful away record. One point gained, four goals scored and seventeen conceded in their five away matches.

This does not tell the full story though. Since new Chairman Adam Pearson arrived with a less than confidence boosting endorsement of Phil Brown, Hull have taken seven points from nine (including a win in midweek against Everton), showing a hitherto unseen spirit. This of course coincided with the return of the infectious Jimmy Bullard, a talented and energetic spark who spent the best part of 2009 sidelined through injury.

We should win the game of course. Our attacking potency being too much for a porous defence but given our propensity for losing leads of late, even a winning position will likely not quieten nerves in the stands.

The significance of the result is also magnified given the weeks other fixtures - a midweek Carling Cup quarter-final against Arsenal and then followed by a visit from Chelsea, who are looking every bit the title favourites.

I wouldn't suggest confidence in the side has been dented by recent results, but there is no doubt the restoring powers a good win can provide. Hull have the capabilities to cause problems for us but I would be surprised if we didn't run out comfortable victors.

Still no clean sheet though in a 3-1 win.

Toure and Adebayor to miss significant time in January?

According to the Mail today, we could be set to lose the services of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure for upto 10 matches in January:

But they have learned that star players such as Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure at Manchester City, Chelsea duo Didier Drogba and Michael Essien, plus Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue, of Arsenal, could be made to leave England as early as December 26 – even though the tournament does not start until January 10.

FIFA rules state clearly that countries can ask players to report a full two weeks ahead of a major tournament, meaning that key English-based players could join training camps as early as December 27.

No official word on their departure date as yet, and I'm certain that the club will negotiate to ensure both players are available for the two league fixtures before Christmas and New Year.

If so, it will only be four league games the duo miss (perhaps less if their countries are eliminated at an early stage - more likely for Adebayor than Toure), but there will be the added possibility of them missing a potential Carling Cup semi-final (both legs) and the FA Cup 3rd and 4th round ties.

Of course, this shouldn't be a surprise to the management and you do hope that the usual disrespectful moaning from certain managers about the tournament isn't something we are going to hear again throughout January.

Richards linked with Tottenham

An interesting piece in yesterdays Mail, suggesting Tottenham could be set to move for Micah Richards:

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp hopes the chance to resurrect his England career will convince Richards to switch to White Hart Lane.

Tottenham had a £5million bid turned down for Richards three years ago and the player went on to sign a lucrative four-year deal at City.

He became England's youngest-ever defender when he played against Holland at the age of 18 years and 143 days in 2006. But he has not featured under England boss Fabio Capello and is out of favour at City.

He did not even make the bench for last weekend's 2-2 draw against Liverpool and City boss Mark Hughes is expected to let the youngster go in the January transfer window.

I always find it difficult to know what to make of rumours that appear in the press, primarily because I had a short spell writing the transfer rumour page for a news agency. The brief was very much 'avoid it being obvious, but not too ridiculous.'

This one I suppose fits the bill perfectly. Tottenham, a club perenially linked with signing players and Richards, dropped from the side and now out of he squad completely. Rumours also persist of Richard's supposed poor attitude and the coaching staffs displeasure with him.

Is Hughes ready to give up on him though? It won't be the first time Hughes has made a big call in terms of ridding the squad of a player that doesn't fit in with his ethos. Despite his struggles, I don't think there would be any shortage of interest for Richards from sides in the top half of the Premier League.

I'm yet to be wholly convinced Richards is on the way out though. I may be wrong, but it would still be a huge call to give up on a player who does potentially have so much upside.

Club announce new sponsor

From the official site:

Previously known as MAN, Ferrostaal become the Club’s fourth partner and join with Etihad Airways, Umbro and Etisalat, the latter is a deal which was announced during the Club’s recent trip to Abu Dhabi.

Ferrostaal, a global provider of industrial services in plant construction and engineering, is based in Essen, Germany and employs around 4,440 people in more than 60 different countries. In 2008, its annual turnover amounted to 1.6 billion Euros.

As a result of the deal, which will run until the end of the 2011/12 Premier League season, Ferrostaal’s company logo will appear on perimeter boards at every home league and domestic cup game.

In addition, a pre-season friendly will be played against a German Bundesliga club in the region, during the closed season of each of the three years of the deal.

Benjani linked with a move away

Skysports.com understands Bolton are lining up a January raid on Manchester City for striker Benjani Mwaruwari.

Bolton are desperate to add to their attacking options when the transfer window reopens in the New Year and have earmarked Benjani as the player to fire them to safety.

The Zimbabwe international has a wealth of Premier League experience having moved to England in 2006 when he joined Portsmouth from Auxerre.

Benjani has fallen down Mark Hughes' pecking order following an influx of new strikers over the summer.

>>skysports.com

It isn't a huge stretch of the imagination to think that Benjani's last days at the club are ticking by. He is way down the list of options for Mark Hughes, and with some highly promising Academy players on the rise he could slip even further down the pecking order.

It does seem though that money could well be an issue with regards his departure - no doubt he is on a decent contract that not all suitors may be willing to pay.

A huge surprise though if he is at the club post-January, although it may well be a loan deal if a permanent move cannot be agreed.

Kompany keen to return

"I finally got 90 minutes to run around and make some tackles and I really enjoyed it. I made a lot of good, strong challenges, which is a big part of my game.

"I'm looking forward to pushing for a first-team starting place. The competition doesn't bother me. I'm just as much competition to the others. I hope to be in there in the near future. I'm not there yet but I'm on my way. I'm starting to feel like I did when I first joined City last season. I feel like I can maybe reach even better levels than I did then.

"I'm happy, but I'm realistic as well. I know I need to be able to perform well consistently."

>>mcfc.co.uk

Kompany certainly finds himself in a tough spot at the moment.

Outstanding last season, his consistency and level of play stood out amist the sea change that Hughes was trying to introduce at the club. So much so that he was thought of as a front runner to take the captains armband.

Injury (ironically atrributed to playing through injury last season) curtailed his pre-season and it is only recently that he has returned to full fitness and ready for selection.

It is difficult to see where he will fit in though. In midfield, Nigel de Jong has been excellent in the holding role this season and arguably our most consistent performer so far. I don't see Hughes opting for two defensive-minded midfielders, preferring to us Gareth Barry in a more withdrawn role if required so unless de Jong suffers injury or a sudden loss of form he will struggle to regain his place there.

It is thought that the centre of defence is Kompany's best position, and this is an area often discussed in recent times. Kompany did fill in there at Birmingham and looked very assured. However, Kolo Toure has done little to warrant the axe and Joleon Lescott - for all his early stuggles - has looked more assured of late. Hughes will also be reluctant to jettison a player he invested so much time and money into acquiring.

Interesting also to note that last weekend at Anfield it was Nedum Onouha, and not Kompany who was brought onto to replace the injured Toure. This may have been because a more like for like move was sought but served to reinforce the difficulty that Kompany has in retaining the starting place he was so unlucky to lose.

Robinho ready

CITY are set to unleash Robinho on struggling Hull this weekend.And the man who has had the closest view of the Brazilian star's fight for fitness believes he is ready to begin weaving his magic once again.First team coach Eddie Niedzwiecki has supervised the full training sessions this week in which Robinho - who hasn't played for the Blues since August 27 - has been busy proving he is ready to rumble.

"Robi is looking really good. We were pleased, after all the speculation when he went with Brazil, that he didn't play for them, because he wasn't ready," he said."He had good training and good treatment whilst with them and has come back to us looking sharper by the day."Things are looking very promising for him in terms of the weekend, and he should be up for selection."

>>MEN.

It is interesting to see the change in approach regarding Robinho, with a frustrating six draws in succession leading to the view that we are lacking a little guile. The talk now is that his return to the side can't come soon enough - a far cry of course from earlier in the season when most relegated him to the third in line behind Bellamy and Petrov, and wondered how he would even get near to the starting line up.

I don't think he starts against Hull, but if we are struggling with half an hour or so remaining, expect the clamour for his introduction to begin.

di Maria linked again

Seemingly a story that isn't going away anytime soon, and The Telegraph suggests we are clear favourites to land the Benfica winger:

It is understood that Manchester City are keen to complete a deal next summer, when it is likely that they will move on Robinho, probably to Barcelona, but Di María's club, Benfica, are hoping to complete the transfer in January.

They have approached Atlético Madrid in a bid to sign Portuguese international Simao Sabrosa and want to try to push that deal through as soon as possible and before a lower buy-out clause in Di María's contract kicks in at the end of this season.

It is interesting that the suggestion is Benfica are trying to push through a deal in January to squeeze out the maximum fee they can.

I know that last January we paid a higher fee for Nigel de Jong than we perhaps might have done but however much potential he has, £36 million is a lot of money to pay. Unlike de Jong, di Maria is also unlikely to instantly become a key part of the side, meaning the necessity to overpay is not there.

More likely we go back for him in the summer, perhaps - as the article suggests - Robinho's more long term future may be a lot clearer.

Petrov still sidelined

Newly crowned player of the month (still a game left though until December though) Martin Petrov has been ruled out of the weekends game with Hull:

"I am feeling better but I don't think I'll make it this week," he said on the club's official website."I am hoping that I can start training again at the start of next week."

Poor timing of course given his form of late and having only recently re-asserted himself back into the starting line-up.

Even moreso you imagine given the imminent return of Robinho.

QPR youngster linked again

Following on from this story a couple of weeks or so ago is a piece today from imscouting.com suggesting a move could now be imminent for Raheem Sterling:

Manchester City look set to sign QPR wonderkid Raheem Sterling last night after the teenager informed the London club of his desire to leave.

The 14-year-old recently impressed on his debut for England's Under-16 side and has reportedly been pursued by Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City for several months.Sterling last week told London's Kilburn Times "I just want to stay at QPR for the moment and go from there."

Yet Sterling now appears to be keen to move and Rangers are prepared to listen to offers for the young prospect.