Karim Benzema has told fellow Frenchman Gerard Houllier he is willing to join him at Aston Villa if Real Madrid get Emmanuel Adebayor.
Benzema has only started six league games for Spanish giants Real this term and is usually a sub under boss Jose Mourinho.
The striker, who scored in France’s win over England at Wembley in November, is getting increasingly frustrated at the Bernabeu behind the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo. Now with Real interested in Manchester City striker Adebayor , Benzema’s prospects seem bleaker.
And he is willing to agree a loan deal that would see him working again with his old Lyon manager Houllier, who helped him make his name before a £30million move in July 2009 to Real.
However, a back injury to Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain has put a question mark over a possible switch.
Benzema, 23, is also starting to hit form after a hat-trick in a 4-0 Champions League victory over Auxerre and a hat-trick against Levante in a Copa del Rey last month.
Villa boss Houllier wants a new top-class striker after a bust-up with John Carew, who is expected to soon join West Brom because his contract expires this summer.
Houllier is also closing in on signing Lyon midfielder Jean Makoun, wants Blackpool’s Charlie Adam and Moussa Sissoko from Toulouse.
Villa have also joined the race to sign Bayern Munich captain Mark van Bommel.
The 33-year-old Dutchman is out of contract at the end of the season and, despite his age, has attracted interest from several big clubs.
Tottenham and Manchester City made their interest known before the opening of the January transfer window and AC Milan have held talks with the player’s camp.
Meanwhile, Villa’s derby-day specialist Gabriel Agbonlahor is ready to terrorise Birmingham again.
The striker, 24, has scored on Villa's last three trips to their arch-rivals. And he is fired up for Sunday’s Second City derby at St Andrew's after being pelted with snowballs during Villa’s Carling Cup exit there last month.
Agbonlahor said: “I think we’ll go into that game hungry to get a result for the fans
“It was disappointing last time because if you look back at the way we played, we were on top at times during the game and perhaps could have won.
“We’ve got them again and hopefully it won’t be snowing around that time so I won’t get any snowballs thrown at me!”
Mancini’s warning to cocky Manchester City stars
Roberto Mancini has warned his Manchester City team that they must get rid of their superiority complex if they are to win the Barclays Premier League title.
The most expensive squad in English football welcomed another addition earlier this week when giant striker Edin Dzeko checked in after completing his £27million move from Wolfsburg.
With so much quality at his disposal, Mancini appears best placed to challenge Sir Alex Ferguson for the championship this season, and create what promises to be a thrilling all-Mancunian duel.
However, the visit of Wolves to Eastlands tomorrow is a reminder of the obstacles that lie in City's path.
Even though they went in front at Molineux earlier this season, Mick McCarthy's men rallied to snatch all three points. It was the kind of setback Mancini acknowledges could prove very costly in the final analysis, and one which the Blues must learn to avoid.
“If you beat all these teams; the ones like Wolves, Blackpool and Aston Villa and draw against those like Chelsea and United, you win the title.
“But it is not easy.
“The problem comes when you meet a team that, in your head, you think are easy.
“Against Arsenal, United or Chelsea, you don't need to remind yourself to concentrate. You are there a week before.
“But if you think a game is going to be easy, that is when you lose. It happens here and in Italy.”
Dzeko may yet be forced to make his debut from the bench.
However, the Bosnian's arrival is set to release Roque Santa Cruz from his personal torment, and probably Shaun Wright-Phillips, who has been eased out of the first-team picture since Mancini's arrival.
“Probably Roque will go to Blackburn in one or two days and Shaun has two or three options.”
Clobbered! Angry boss Mancini hits Manchester City's fight club
Roberto Mancini has underlined his tough-guy image at Manchester City by fining the four players recently involved in training ground bust-ups.
City's Italian manager has clashed with several members of his first-team squad over training methods but has always stood by his approach.
Now Mancini, whose team sit second in the Barclays Premier League, has revealed that Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jerome Boateng and Mario Balotelli have all been docked wages after photographers caught them fighting in two separate incidents.
Asked if he fined the players, Mancini said: 'Yes. We fine them because we mustn't do this (fight) but sometimes it can happen and we fine the player, the player pays and in the end any money may go to charity.
'It's never serious because it starts and finishes in two minutes and in the dressing room everything is finished.'
Mancini then joked: ‘Sometimes we fight for them (the photographers) so they can sell their pictures.'
He added: ‘Seriously, this happens in every team. The difference is that here we don’t have a big wall around the training ground.
‘I played football for 20 years and I know that in every team sometimes these things can happen, because you train and play at 100 per cent.
‘Did I fight with team-mates? Yes, about five times. One time, when I was young at Sampdoria, I had a fight in training against Trevor Francis. I don’t remember the cause of it because it was about 25 years ago but I remember very well the fight.
‘It’s important that afterwards it [the argument] was finished. Am I bothered about the pictures or headlines in the newspapers? Absolutely not.’
Boateng and Balotelli went for each other on the training ground last month, while last week Adebayor and Toure had to be dragged apart.
Mancini, whose team are at home to Wolves tomorrow, suggested that £27million signing Edin Dzeko needs 'another week of work' before he will be match fit. Mail
MARK HUGHES is set to be reunited with Manchester City misfit Shaun Wright-Phillips at Fulham – but admits he cannot afford Emmanuel Adebayor.
Wright-Phillips and Adebayor are leaving Eastlands after a lack of first-team action.
And boss Hughes hopes he can convince the winger he signed for £9m from Chelsea as City boss in 2008 to return to west London.
He said: “There is a lot of speculation and Shaun is a player I know and I have worked with before.
“We have had conversations with Manchester City, but also a number of other clubs in terms of who they are likely to be allowing out.”
Hughes would have leapt at the chance to sign Adebayor, too, but admits he couldn’t afford his former hitman, who looks destined for Real Madrid.
He said: “Manu is a guy I like. He did well for me as a player.
“Any team that has him will be strengthened, but that doesn’t mean we are in any position to bring him here.
“We are in better shape than we were and perhaps the anxiety we felt before the window opened has dissipated somewhat.”
or maybe not ...
Shaun Wright-Phillips 'offered for transfer to Liverpool'
Shaun Wright-Phillips is heading for the Manchester City exit door, having been offered to Liverpool and Fulham.
Wright-Phillips is in his second spell at Manchester City, having been brought back to the club from Chelsea by Mark Hughes.
Now it seems Hughes is keen to sign the player again, this time to take him back to west London and Fulham.
Liverpool are also believed to be interested in the player, with Reds manager Kenny Mumbles desperately needing to add a creative spark to his floundering team.
With Wright-Phillips set to be available for as little as £4million, he could be a useful signing for a Liverpool side still trying to establish a long-term strategy.
One City player whose future does appear to be decided is Roque Santa Cruz, who looks set to rejoin Blackburn.
City boss Roberto Mancini conceded he would have to let Santa Cruz and Wright-Phillips go in search of first-team football.
'Every player wants to play. I understand that. But it is difficult for me. It is the same situation for Roque and Shaun Wright-Phillips,' he said.
maineblue.co.uk Bollox
Roberto Mancini has confirmed Roque Santa Cruz and Shaun Wright-Phillips are likely to leave the club in the coming days although any Adebayor transfer remains in doubt due to Balotelli’s injury.
Santa Cruz is poised to rejoin Blackburn, the club where he first made his mark in England. Winger Wright-Phillips has been linked with Fulham, Birmingham and West Ham.
Mancini said he is reluctant to allow striker Emmanuel Adebayor to leave until he knows whether Mario Balotelli requires surgery on his knee injury.
Wright-Phillips could be tempted to link up with Hughes again at Fulham but Santa Cruz is keen to stay in the north west, where his family are settled. The Paraguayan scored 23 goals for Blackburn in the 2007-08 season, before joining City for £17.5 million in 2009.
“Roque will probably go to Blackburn,” said Mancini, “Every player wants to play. I understand that. But it is difficult for me. If an opportunity for either of them to play came up, then it would be better for them and I hope for Roque that in one or two days, he will have that. It is the same situation for Roque and Shaun Wright-Phillips. He has two or three options.”
Mark Hughes refused to deny he is trying to bring Shaun Wright-Phillips to Fulham but ruled out a move for his Manchester City team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor.
One of Hughes’ first acts as Mancini’s predecessor two and a half years ago was to bring the England winger back to the north-west from Chelsea. And it appears he is now trying to convince the 29-year-old to return to west London.
“He’s a player I’ve worked with, a player I know,” Hughes said, “There’s a number of players out there that there’s speculation about that I’ve worked with before. It’s unfair for me to comment on specific situations or specific players.”
Asked if Fulham had contacted City about Wright-Phillips, Hughes added, “I think those conversations happen all the time in terms of what’s available and who you’re releasing. Those conversations have been had not only with Man City but almost every club in the Premier League. Certainly, we’ve enquired at a number of clubs in terms of what they’re likely to be allowing out.”
As much as Hughes would like to sign Adebayor, who he also brought to City, it appears the former Arsenal striker is well out of Fulham’s price range.
“Manu is a guy who I like as a person,” Hughes said, “As a player, he did well for me. He had problems when he went out of the team but he’s a good guy. Any team that had a player of the quality of Adebayor would be strengthened. But that doesn’t mean that we’re in a position to bring him here, I have to say.”
The Adebayor situation is complicated by concerns over Italian striker Balotelli, who is out for at least a month and may need surgery on a persistent knee problem. Several clubs have expressed interest in former Arsenal frontman.
“A lot of teams want Emmanuel but at the moment we have to wait for Mario Balotelli,” admitted Mancini, “Maybe Manu will leave but we have another 20 days, so we have time to make a decision. If we lose three or four, we might end up in a situation where we don’t have enough players for the remainder of the season.”
http://maineblue.co.uk/?p=7868
WAG OF THE DAY
OTHER BOLLOX
Blackpool boss Ian Holloway may make a fresh bid for Bradley Wright-Phillips after admitting an e-mail from chairman Karl Oyston put the Plymouth striker off a move to Bloomfield Road.
Wright-Phillips's move to Reading collapsed over his medical and Holloway said: 'Maybe we can pick it up again. Karl sent his agent an email and he showed it to the player who didn't feel wanted. It didn't look like we wanted him that much.'
Liverpool are considering a summer move for Inter Milan striker Victor Obinna, currently on loan at West Ham. The defending Italian champions want £8m for the Nigeria international.Talksport.co.uk
The agent of Borussia Dortmund's Neven Subotic has told Arsenal they would be wasting their time pursuing the Serbia international defender. Talksport.co.uk
But the Gunners look set to beat Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United for the signature of Southampton's highly-rated teenage midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for £5m. Daily Mail
Fulham boss Mark Hughes has turned his attentions to Tottenham striker Robbie Keane following Roque Santa Cruz's preference to return to Blackburn. Republic of Ireland international Keane is also wanted by Aston Villa and Birmingham City. Metro
Liverpool interim boss Kenny Mumbles is also keen on bringing England international Wright-Phillips to Anfield. Metro
Chelsea are close to a £21m deal for Benfica centre-back David Luiz, with right-back Paulo Ferreira moving in the opposite direction. The Premier League champions are also keen on £18m Ajax right-back Gregory van der Wiel. Mirror
West Brom are face competition with Italian club Palermo for Sporting Lisbon defender Nuno Coelho. Talksport.co.uk
Bayern Munich's Mark van Bommel is being pursued by Tottenham and Aston Villa. The Netherlands international midfielder is out of contract in the summer, but Bayern are keen to cash in on the 33-year-old before he is released for nothing. Metro
Tottenham striker Rafael van der Vaart insists his team can beat Manchester United on Sunday and are ready to win the Premier League title this season. Mirror
The Netherlands international says Tottenham do not need to sign anyone in the January transfer window to maintain their title challenge. Goal.com
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has given his strongest backing so far to goal-line technology. "If it works we will do it," he told CNN. CNN.com
Wigan's Paul Scharner has accused his team-mates of being "lazy" and has questioned their desire to stay in the Premier League.
Full story: Daily Mail
Liverpool's Premier League shock 2-1 defeat by Blackpool was further compounded when the players were forced to endure cold showers because the Bloomfield Road boiler had broken down.
Mirror
more later . . .
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