Caicedo to remain at Sporting

Contrary to an erroneus report earlier this week Felip Caicedo will be remaining in Portugal until the end of the season. So says the MEN anyway:

MANCHESTER City striker Felipe Caicedo will have to see out the season with Sporting Lisbon in Portugal.

According to sources in Portugal, Sporting have looked into the possibility of terminating the loan.However, M.E.N. Sport has been told they cannot do this under the rules of the deal.

Judging by his record during 2009/10, I doubt it will be for longer than that though.

Caicedo to Sporting

Confirmation of what had been widely predicted:

FELIPE Caicedo is set for a move to Sporting Lisbon.

The Ecuadorian striker has fallen down the pecking order at Eastlands since the arrival of Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz in the summer transfer window.

Caicedo himself said of the move:

"My objective is to play and to demonstrate that I can triumph in Europe," Caicedo told skysports.com.

"City have many forwards who have arrived this summer and they have complicated my presence.

"But to be with a club like Sporting Lisbon is a personal challenge to me.

"I am very happy to be able to play in the Champions League. Portugal is a good championship and I do not believe there will be any problems for me adapting my style."

As I wrote the past day or so, it is a good move for all concerned. Whilst the Portuguese league may not be of the highest quality, he will be tested and it should improve him as a player far more than the reserves here at City will.

He also has the advantage of a potential Champions League campaign (should Sporting overcome Twente in the qualifiers).

I slowly warmed to Caicedo over the course of last season. I still think Sven vastly overpayed for him, and at times he resembles a bull in a china shop (or even a headless bull in a china shop), but there is definitely something there with him.

Whether he now gets the opportunity to ever show that with us is another question, but a loan deal rather than a permanent one suggests Mark Hughes may think he could turn into a useful player further down the line.

Further departures reported

Further vestiges of Manchester City's Sven Goran Eriksson era seem likely to be swept away, with a loan deal under discussion that would take striker Felipe Caicedo to Sporting Lisbon and a possible move to Racing Santander for Javier Garrido.

Caicedo, whom Eriksson signed from the Swiss club Basle 18 months ago, led the line for City against Kaizer Chiefs at Kings Park Stadium here last night but Sporting are keen to wrap up a deal as soon as possible.

>>independent.co.uk

As I posted yesterday, now that the bulk of the incoming transfers has been completed, we should begin to see departures from the club over the coming weeks as sides look to strengthen their squads ahead of the season.

Both Garrido and Caicedo have been previously linked with moves away from the club, and it would not be a huge surprise if either moved on this summer.

Garrido is very much second choice at left back and will find his opportunities limited behind Wayne Bridge, and given he failed to beat out Michael Ball last season, Mark Hughes clearly does hold him in high esteem.

More interesting is Caicedo. He did win over a number of people over the latter part of 2008/09, when he did show plenty of promise. He is very raw indeed, but has the potential and physical tools to be a potent part of an attack so perhaps a loan deal, rather than a permanent move away from the club is the most suitable option.

Friday transfer round up - a busy morning

A busy day news wise so far, with a further bid for Roque Santa Cruz being rejected by Blackburn. Mark Hughes said of the bid:

"Yesterday afternoon we put an improved bid in for Roque
Santa Cruz that was rejected, (the bid) an improvement. “We have to make a
decision on that and the window is open until the second so we’ve got time if we
decide to do that.”

What could be in our favour is that it is being reported that Blackburn are hoping to land either Peter Crouch or El-Hadj Diouf which could signal Santa Cruz's exit from the club.

No further progress on Shay Given, but again, Hughes confirmed their has been a bid lodged:

“The situation with Newcastle is that obviously we’ve put in
a bid for Shay Given and we haven’t had an update on that.
“I’ve said
I’m looking to bring in an experienced keeper and he ticks the box in that
respect. Whether or not the deal happens we’ll have to wait and see."

Furthermore to this, it has been reported that Given has failed to show for training this morning at newcastle.

A couple of players linked with oves out of the club with Fulham being turned down with their bid to take Felipe Caicedo on loan for the remainder of the season, whilst out of favour Jo has been linked with a move to surprise Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim.

Deadline day - done deals

Well what a day it has been eh?

I think we hoped that deadline day might see the arrival of one or two players to supplement the squad but who would have predicted what has occurred today - even in the crazy world of Manchester City?

It would have been a great day to be able to cover it all live but I'm now set for a frantic evening as I try and catch up on everything that has happened today, and with all the news that may yet to come in.

A couple of deals were done over the weekend, with Argentinian Pablo Zabaleta finally sealing his move and then a surprise move for Brazilian left back Glauber - who is believed to have joined on an (initial) short term one year deal from relegated Bundesliga side FC Nurnberg.

Early this morning then saw confirmation that Vedran Corluka had signed for Tottenham - putting an end to the one-off saga from the past week or so.

A disappointment in some respects to lose Corluka who is clearly a good player, but rather than for financial reasons it is clear the decision has been made on a footballing basis with Mark Hughes believing Zabaleta to be an improvement.

Hughes was believed to be tracking him from when he was in charge at Blackburn so he is obviously sold on his talents so it is a decision we need to back and there is no reason to suggest it is a bad one at this stage.

Another move out of the blue was then the signing of Felipe Caicedo by Hertha Berlin on a season long loan deal, which to me indicates that he does not have a future at the club given Hughes's reluctance to allow Ched Evans or Daniel Sturridge to follow a similar path.

Caicedo was always more of a long term 'project' but hadn't displayed the potential of either Evans or Sturridge in his brief outings and it would be a surprise if he made another appearance at the club.