A further bid for Terry?

The Independent this morning suggests we could well try again for John Terry, raising our offer to £40 million pounds and making him the first £300,000 a week footballer:

Manchester City's pursuit of John Terry is not over and they are now considering increasing the pressure on Chelsea with a second bid for the England captain in excess of the £30m deal that was rejected on Thursday night. Chelsea are opposed to losing their captain but it is understood that Terry could yet opt to leave.

The article also states that there may be some indication that Terry at the very least would be open to discussions:

There is no doubt that City's executive chairman, Garry Cook, would not have made the offer to Chelsea had he not been receiving some encouragement that Terry would be amenable to a move. As a former Chelsea player, the City manager Mark Hughes has close contacts with his ex-club, including those individuals close to the players.

If a firm offer hadn't been made for Terry, this would strike you as a classic summer transfer non-story. The press could now well be dragging this out for all the column inches it's worth, but maybe, just maybe there may actually be a degree of truth to it.

I still maintain that I would be amazed if this offer ever amounted to anything, yet perhaps there has been encouragement of some sort from Terry in which case expect a follow up bid to materialise.

Of course, on the other hand it could all be a retaliatory gesture designed to hack Chelsea off over the Daniel Sturridge affair.

The days best City links 07/04/2009

• MAN CITY ISSUES: New City Site - What do you think?

  tags: City

• Total Manchester City: No more 'Typical City' says Wrighty - News - Manchester City FC

  tags: City

• Danny Pugsley (dpugsley) on Twitter

  tags: City

• Norfstander: Season Ticket prices compared.

  tags: City

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Would Michael Owen have been a good signing?

I've posted more in depth on Michael Owen over at Football Rants, and whilst the signing has potential (and definitely beneficial for Owen) I do think that the press would have really put the knife into him had he landed at Hull or Stoke as opposed to the move being a great opportunity.

Whilst we are still believed to be pursuing Carlos Tevez and/or Samuel Eto'o, I can't help but wonder if Owen would have been a great fit in our line-up with the attacking prowess that we have. Looking at the deal, it was reported as being a two-year contract at £40,000 per week so would not have represented a huge gamble on our part.

The lack of a true goalscorer was one of our failings last season and whilst the signing of Santa Cruz should address this, would Owen have been worth a gamble?

Chelsea confirm Sturridge signing

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Daniel Sturridge has agreed to join the club on a four-year contract.

He will join the first team squad for pre-season training next week when the players return from their summer break.

The 19-year-old previously played for Manchester City, where he first burst onto the first team scene in the 2007/08 season, scoring twice in four days in January for Sven Goran Eriksson's side, including an important equaliser at Derby County to earn a point.

>>chelseafc.com

No great surprise and there has been plenty said about the whole Sturridge 'situation' before. All that remains is to have the fee agreed - either by tribunal or if both clubs can settle on a figure.

I'll keep my eyes on this for any official comments from either Sturridge or the club about the move.

Terry bid rejected

It was confirmed on chelseafc.com that we have had a bid for John Terry turned down. Whilst there were reports in January that we had tentatively enquired as to his potential availability, a concerete offer has clearly now been made (with some suggestion that we used the ruse of Sturridge negotitations to the spring the formal offer on a 'stunned' Peter Kenyon).

Despite being rebuffed, it is reported that we are set to go back in with a further bid. It does surprise me however as whilst we can flex some muscle to bring Barry and Santa Cruz to the club it is a different scenario entirely with Terry. Notwithstanding that there is a school of thought that actually suggests Terry benefits from having played alongside the likes of Carvalho, if we are talking £18 million for Joleon Lescott, is the region of £30 million way too low.

For me, whilst every player has his price, it has to be at the right time. Terry is a lynchpin and appears wedded to Chelsea and is the embodiment of the modern day Chelsea (both good and bad). I just don't see them even contemplating a deal regardless of what offer we put on the table. Having been rebuffed in January when the position at Chelsea was less stable (with Terry reportedly butting heads with Scolari), I fail to see the logic in going after him once again and surely we are better pursuing targets elsewhere.

Academy to expand globally

The major success story of the past decade at the club has undoubtedly been the emergence of the Academy, and the procession of players brought through to senior leve, which shows no sign of abating.

The club today announced plans to expand the Academy on a global scale, with an initial Academy in Abu Dhabi, followed by a venture into America. I posted back in 2006 about the seeming lack of vision that the club had in terms of scouting at the time but it does appear that the club have changed philosophy and we have already seen a handful of additions of younger players from Europe - something that all succesful sides have done for some time.

Possibly the most positive aspect of this is that Jim Cassell, the architect of the success of the Academy will oversee the initiative rather than being ushered aside by a new arrival. The Academy has more than paid for itself since being set up in its current guise and if this success can be replicated on a wider scale, it is a clearly a win-win situation.

Vassell mobbed in Turkey

This is a great picture just for the sheer bemusement on Vassell's face.


I had imagined that Vassell would likely end up at a top level Championship side (or even one of the promoted clubs) but maybe he fancied the challenge of playing abroad at this stage of his career.

It is easy to dismiss his time at City, but when he arrived at the club he was not far removed from the England set up and had a decent reputation. He did arrive at a time when we were struggling and perhaps was not up to taking on the kind of responsibility demanded of him. It may have also have not helped that he only seemed able to find the net against Aston Villa.

During his latter days at the club he often found himself out on the right, or during the second half of 2008/09 out of the side completely. I'm not sure many of us had heard of Ankaragucu, but it might be one more side to look out for next season.

City career stats

	Apps	Sub	Goals
Total (Club)	124	(14)	22
League	103	(12)	17
FA Cup	12	(1)	3
League Cup	3	(1)	1
European/Others	6	(0)	1

Club announce Endemol partnership

English Premier League club Manchester City has signed a long-term partnership with Endemol Sport, a division of the TV production company Endemol - famous for producing the globe-spanning Big Brother programme.

Endemol Sport will be tasked with developing schemes to use television to build City’s brand throughout the world, as well as relaunching the club website, which will be available in English and Arabic. City are owned by the ruling family of Abu Dhabi. However, Endemol insists the Middle East is not its only target: “The Middle East is very important for obvious reasons and we’ll also target Asia and Latin America,“ said Gregg Oldfield, joint managing director at Endemol Sport.

>>sportspromedia.com

The plans for world domination continue...

New website launched

The new website was finally launched today, and all appears to now be working following the teething problems they experienced first thing.

As for the look of the site, it looks fine. I've never been a huge user of the website anyway (mainly using it for ticket and fixture news). It does look a lot cleaner looking than the old site but whether it was worth the hype ahead of the launch I'm not too sure.

Thoughts?

Players released

CITY have confirmed the list of players released from the club.

Danny Mills, Daniel Sturridge, Darius Vassell, Glauber Berti, Didi Hamann and Michael Ball will all be playing their football away from Eastlands next season. Goalkeeper Richard Martin has gone, report www.mcfc.co.uk as have youngsters Matthew Brown, Ian Daly, Gregor Hartley, Ben Morris, Curtis Obeng, Chris Ramsey and Angelos Tsiaklis.

>>MEN.

No surprise with the names of Mills, Vassell, Glauber, Hamman or Ball on the list. Quite cleary none have any future with the club given the changes we have undergone the past couple of seasons.

It is worth noting though that when Vassell, Hamman and Ball arrived at the club they were very much components of the squad at that time. Vassell and Ball in particular played key roles when they first arrived before being marginalised during their latter days. Hamman's time was perhaps blighted through injury yet had a very big season in 2007/08 where he showed the form that he displayed during his days at Liverpool.

Whilst not unexpected (and the move to Chelsea will now surely be imminent), it also a very understated exit for Sturridge.

As for Danny Mills, the less said the better.

Sheikh Mansour

One of the features carried on the new official site (not the smoothest) of launches incidentally) today was an interview with club owner, Sheikh Mansour. The main thread has been picked up in the press and a full transcript can be found at mcfc.co.uk.

The point that stood out for me was his talk of the long term project - a theme that has been constant since the new owners came on board:

We continue to be very clear in regard to our expectations and ambitions: We are competitors. We are here to win and to build a club that will be in a position to win trophies. That said, we know that will take time, and this is where a patient and pragmatic approach is essential. We know what we want and are very clear on our internal targets. What we have done in the last ten months sets the tone of the way we will do things very clearly.

They have been very impressive in their approach so far, and they clearly see the value of long term strategy rather than throwing money around for the sake of a quick fix.

Thankfully, we appear to be in good hands.

Hughes on Eto'o and Tevez

"We'll all have to be patient. Every transfer is different - we were able to do the Gareth Barry deal very quickly, the one for Roque [Santa Cruz] was long-winded. We have to accept there may be others that will take a little bit of time.

"There is always an element of frustration when you can't conclude deals quickly. But we will give every deal the patience we feel it deserves. If we get to a point where we feel something is not going to happen, that's the time we move away. We've done that in the past."

>>goal.com

Vassell heading to Turkey

Darius Vassell has travelled to Turkey to hold talks with Ankaragucu over a prospective move to the Super Lig side.The former England international appears to have no future at Manchester City with manager Mark Hughes linked with a host of big-name signings.

>>sky sports.com

I love this comment from Ankaragucu chairman Cengiz Topel Yildirim:

"We've completed the pre-negotiations with Darius Vassell."We aim to secure a big signing as this year is our centenary".

More on Eto'o

Eto’o is believed to be keen to secure the sort of signing-on fee he could expect if he saw out the remaining year of his contract at the Nou Camp and left on a free transfer. However, his agent Josep Maria Mesalles on Tuesday insisted reports that half of the transfer fee – around £12 million – had been demanded were “absolutely untrue”.

Sources at City are adamant that the Premier League side have no plans to increase their offer to club or player, believing any dispute over how the transfer fee is divided to be an issue between Eto’o, who is believed to be unhappy at the price tag the club have placed on him, and Barcelona.

>>telegraph.co.uk

From the reports we have seen the past day or so, it does suggest that money is really at the heart of all this - principally that Eto'o is trying to eke out as much as possible whether he moves or signs a new deal. The Independent suggests we are now standing aside to let Barca and Eto'o sort any issues between themselves, and that we will not be raising our offer.

This has got the potential to drag on throughout the summer, a distraction that will not be helpful in any way, so as good an addition as Eto'o is, surely some timeline needs to be imposed with regards to a decision one way or the other.

Et tu, Samuel?

Earlier today saw the press conference from the representatives of Samuel Eto'o, in which his future would supposedly be clarified. However, far from clearing up his current situation, we are left with more questions than we had at this stage yesterday.

To summarise today's events, we are left with the following potential scenarios:

Eto'o will stay at Barcelona and see out the final year of his contract:

However, Eto’o has one season of his present contract left to run and, rather than accept the riches on offer at City, he is preparing to see out the final year before leaving Barcelona for nothing next summer.

A move to ourselves could still be agreed:

"The club said coach Pep Guardiola did not want him. Guardiola has not told the player he is not required."If they have a serious offer from Man City and if they want to continue with this negotiation we could be interested."We haven't spoken to City but if Barca have reached an agreement it shouldn't be that difficult to reach a deal."

He would prefer to stay at Barca, but would be happy to join us if they wish to see him leave:

"I don't know if they really want Samuel to stay of if they just want to make money out of him. He would be delighted to stay if they want him and we will study their offer if it is serious, but if they don't want him we will do all we can to help Samuel find a new club. In theory he wanted to play in the Champions League, but if Manchester City have an offer accepted, we would be delighted to go there."

All clear?

The club have of course offered no comment regarding any move for Eto'o. Perhaps this is as a result of being stung in the same way following the failed attempt for Kaka. Of course, this gives us no idea of the clubs intentions - whether there is a genuine interest, how close we may be/have been to signing Eto'o and what potential there is to signing him.

It does look doubtful at this stage, yet neither Barca or Eto'o have categorically ruled out a deal which could leave an avenue open for us. I don't see though that a deal is likely to be concluded any time soon, which will clearly be frustrating, and I don't see Hughes or Cook wanting to be kept hanging around in the hope of concluding the transfer.

Celtic friendly announced

Mark Hughes' men will complete their build-up for the Barclays Premier League campaign with a prestigious friendly against Celtic at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday, August 8 (kick-off 3pm).

The visit of Glasgow's former European champions means that City will warm up for the season with an intriguing Old Firm double header, with the Celtic match preceded by a midweek clash with neighbours Rangers at Ibrox Stadium.

>>mcfc.co.uk

Eto'o press conference scheduled

The agent of Samuel Eto'o is scheduled to hold a press conference tomorrow to announce details on the strikers future. The latest media reports however, suggest that Eto'o is likely to turn down the reported £25 million bid with it being suggested that it would take a 180 degree turnaround for Eto'o to now join us.

The phrase '180 degree turnaround' is quite ambiguous though and I guess doesn't necessarily rule out Eto'o leaving Barcelona. There is the possibility that his team are very aware that Barcelona would like to sell him at this price (given he could walk for free this time next year) and they are trying to extract a 'golden handshake' payment.

Whilst Inter have been mentioned in the mix, I doubt they could match our offer (in financial terms) - particularly after failing to offload Zlatan Ibrahimovich, so signs do point at this stage to him running down his contract.

There will of course be a clearer indication this time tomorrow.

UPDATE (23:50)

timesonline reports that the deal could be dead in the water over the player's demands for upto half of the £25 million transfer fee. Excessive that may be but Eto'o is clearly in a huge position of strength here. A club desperate to secure him, a club desperate to sell, and him in the middle knowing a year from now he can pocket a signing on fee should he run his contract down.

The hope is that Barca come to an agreement with him regarding a payment which enables the transfer to go through.

Hart to miss final

England's appeal against goalkeeper Joe Hart's booking in the European Under-21 Championship semi-finals has failed.

Hart was shown a yellow card for unsporting behaviour during England's penalty shoot-out win over Sweden.

A previous booking meant the 22-year-old was automatically suspended for Monday's final against Germany.

>>bbc sport

Reports suggest Eto'o deal is close

It has been widely reported - with the News of The World leading the story - the past twenty-four hours or so that Samuel Eto'o is set to arrive at the club this week, along with the announcement of the signing of Carlos Tevez.

Landing Eto'o would be a fantastic capture. Still only twenty-eight years old, he would bring a proven track record and a real presence up front. He seems a versatile player, able to fit into various formations and adapt to different style. Above all, he would bring that most valuable of qualities; goals.

The timing of it certainly fits as it is believed that Mark Hughes would like to tie up all of the summer signings by the first week of July. The potential sums of money involved are frightening though, a £25 million transfer fee (he has only season left on his current deal at Barcelona), and a weekly wage of £180,000 after tax.

It could be worth keeping an eye on a deal Barcelona are rumoured to be near to completing to bring Kerrison to the Nou Camp, as he would then be used to facilitate (via a loan transfer) a deal that would see David Villa move to Barcelona, freeing up Eto'o to move on.

UPDATE (23:19)

telegraph.co.uk back this up, suggesting a deal could be announced this week:

It is understood that Eto’o has verbally agreed to the move – having hoped there would be an intervention from Inter Milan who have tried and failed to sell Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Chelsea - that will make him the highest-paid player in the Premier League and, maybe, the world. City hope to make an announcement later this week.

We could be set for an interesting July 1st.