Emmanuel Adebayor has pleaded with Real Madrid to hand him a permanent deal.
And the Togo striker reckons having his Rastafarian curls chopped off will boost his hopes of a full-time future at the Bernabeu!
Adebayor, 27, has scored three goals in 11 outings since joining Jose Mourinho’s Spanish giants in a loan deal from Manchester City in January.
He said: “I shall do everything I can to stay on with Real Madrid. No-one can be as happy as I am now. Playing here is a dream come true, and I now feel useful again.
“But I don’t see myself succeeding at Real with dreadlocks, so that is why I have had them cut off!”
The clubs have already agreed a £15million fee if Real Madrid decide they want to keep him.
Adebayor added: “Give me a contract stating that we shall win the Champions League final 2-0 with both goals by Karim Benzema and I’ll sign it straight away!”
Adebayor wants to make the most of his career and is still haunted by the attack on the Togo team bus 14 months ago. Although all the players survived, three people were killed.
“I should be dead, but I am alive and playing for Madrid. What else can I ask for? Nothing.” Mirror
Johnson allowed to thrill
Adam Johnson is on a mission to make Chelsea see double for the second successive season – after being given a licence to thrill by boss Roberto Mancini.
Some say Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has a typical Serie A mentality when it comes to setting up his side.
But City have been victorious in their last three meetings against Chelsea and Adam Johnson has revealed that Mancini’s plan is for him to cause havoc at Stamford Bridge today.
The midfielder, 23, said: “There’s always been that licence to thrill. I just think people say Italians are defensive.
“But nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. He loves to give me the freedom to play.
“When we defend, we defend as a team and we attack as a team, too. The last time we played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, we played them off the park.”
Johnson also claims that City are ready to win the FA Cup – and can still win the Premier League.
He added: “Everyone is talking about the title being done. But two defeats for any of the teams above us and two wins for us and it’s back on.
“I know the fans are excited by the FA Cup semi-final, I am too. To get a winners’ medal would be a dream come true.”
City to entice Mourinho with £10m-a-year deal, but Jose wants dream job at United
Jose Mourinho, told that his dream job of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford will have to wait for at least another year, is wanted by Manchester United's 'noisy neighbours'.
With Roberto Mancini said by one insider at Manchester City to be on borrowed time following the club's Europa League exit on Thursday night, Mourinho is the club's No1 target to replace the Italian this summer.
The man who turned Chelsea into Premier League champions will be offered a £10million-a-year deal to take charge at Eastlands and will have to choose between staying at Real Madrid while waiting for Ferguson to retire or joining City and going head-to-head with his old friend and rival.
That the Scot intends to stay on for at least another year will be welcome news at Old Trafford but it could mean United missing out on a manager who is among the most qualified to succeed him.
One Premier League source said: 'Jose has learned that Ferguson has no intention of retiring in the foreseeable future.'
Mourinho is keen to return to the Premier League sooner rather than later after the breakdown of his relationship with Madrid president Florentino Perez and director general Jorge Valdano.
With La Liga success unlikely this season, there is still plenty for him to achieve at Real, but he could yet go out on a high in the Champions League.
City will make a convincing case for him to take over from Mancini, with money to spend and a golden legacy to build.
They will trust, of course, that Mourinho's ideas for spending Sheik Mansour's wealth are considerably more effective than the efforts of both Mancini and the man who preceded him, Mark Hughes.
Ahead of Sunday's game against Chelsea, Mancini faces the same fate unless there is a dramatic reversal in fortune for his £50million misfiring strikers Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko.
Mancini stuck his neck out over both men and the consequences have been disastrous so far.
Balotelli's misdemeanours are fast becoming legendary and Mancini knows he is being made personally responsible by the Abu Dhabi ownership for the £23m hothead who is darkening the club's name.
Less well known but just as alarming for Mancini is the whispering campaign against Dzeko, emanating from inside the City dressing room, with some players unimpressed by the £27m striker's qualities in training.
Mancini wanted Dzeko so badly in January that chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak personally intervened with the Bosnian's representatives to push the deal over the line.
Yet the centre-forward travels to Stamford Bridge this afternoon still looking for his first Premier League goal and being blamed for sucking some of the power from Carlos Tevez, who is going through his longest drought of the season.
'Dzeko has not impressed the other players in training,' said a well-placed source. 'The word being used to describe his style is "stiff". His first touch isn't considered the greatest either, which is a surprise because that was touted as one of his assets when he joined.'
Champions League qualification is the minimum requirement and that will be thrown into serious doubt if they are unable to replicate last season's thrilling 4-2 win at Chelsea.
Damningly, he ignored the advice that Balotelli was uncontrollable and persuaded City to buy him from Inter Milan where they had worked together successfully.
But so far the 20-year-old has proved his critics right, acting like a sulky child and getting himself sent off against Dynamo Kiev for a high kick on an opponent.
Mancini knows his head is on the block if Balotelli's tantrums continue.
'Mario makes life difficult for himself, but also for me because I trusted him 100 per cent,' said City's manager. 'After this red card, the situation is very difficult. He is not repaying my trust and he should work more to repay me.
'I hope every day that he becomes a man. He should realise how lucky he is to be in a fantastic sport like football.'
Hughes was sacked for buys like Santa Cruz, an injury-prone forward who cost £17.5m and scored only four goals in 18 months before returning to Blackburn Rovers on loan.
Mancini risks the same fate and it is significant that City's best value-for-money buy during his time, £7m winger Adam Johnson, was picked out by football administrator Brian Marwood rather than the Italian.
Johnson will will have a vital part to play at Chelsea on Sunday after returning from a six-week injury lay-off in midweek.
He is not a typical Mancini player, being direct rather than cagey.
But with all the other problems surrounding the club following their Europa League exit, City will be glad of Johnson's half-full attitude towards a fixture they dare not lose.
'We played Chelsea off the park last year and hopefully we can do the same again,' said Johnson, who hopes to be named in Fabio Capello's England squad to face Wales and Ghana.
'The Champions League is the minimum we expect to achieve this season.
'Everyone says the title is done but two defeats for Man United or Arsenal, and a couple of wins for us or Chelsea, and it is back on. Anything can happen and I still think there is a lot of football to be played. We are battling with all the teams at the top and at the same time, nobody is totally safe to finish in the top four.'
The current malaise at City will be banished if the season ends with them winning their first major trophy since 1976 - an epic FA Cup semi-final against Manchester United awaits after the international break - and finish in the top four.
Missing out on the Champions League last season when they were beaten by Spurs in their final home game still hurts.
Johnson added: 'We gave away a lot of points to teams we should have beaten. We'd go in front and then concede late goals. In some games, we would make 20 chances and couldn't put it in the net.
'We're hoping this year will be different and we will learn from our lessons. I think we are a better team now. We are gelling more.'
Dzeko and Balotelli were signed specifically to put those chances away.
That has not happened yet and lurking in the background is uncertainty over what will happen to Tevez in the summer.
In recent games he has spent more time gesticulating to Mancini about the lack of service than he has in the penalty area.
But Mancini, himself capped 36 times by Italy, did not win Serie A three times as a manager without learning how to deal with the blows.
Clubs are only starting to enter the business end of the season now and already he is putting a gloss on City's European exit and trying to turn it to his advantage.
'The past two months of the season are going to be hard for everyone. With Manchester United and Chelsea also playing in the Champions League, it will be especially hard for them,' he said.
But unless his £50m flops start producing, Mancini can surely expect to find the next few weeks are no holiday for him either.
Especially with a man like Mourinho waiting in the wings.
BRANISLAV Ivanovic has called Manchester City a team of stars – but not a star team.
Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic is one of many who are not convinced that Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has found the right blend of players yet.
Ahead of today’s Stamford Bridge clash Ivanovic, 27, claims the game will define the season of both clubs and said: “If you look at the Man City squad, there are a lot of world-class players but you can’t buy points.
“You have to deserve it on the pitch. I think this is the crucial game for both teams.
“You have to be a team. Football is a collective sport. We are a team and I hope we are back in the right way.”
Ivanovic added defeat will end any hopes Chelsea have of lifting the title and leave them having to concentrate on the Champions League for any kind of success.
He sees hope in Chelsea’s recent run of success with confidence restored. All that’s missing is goals from the £50million new boy Ferdando Torres, who has so far failed to find the net since his January move from Liverpool.
Ivanovic, who has just signed a new five-year £65,000-a-week deal, said: “The game against City is so important.
It’s crucial now because we can use it to make our season different and a win could change the whole situation. If we win this game it will mean we are back on our way.
“We are still in the fight for the title and we have games with Manchester United and Spurs to come, too.
“To put it simply, if we lose then maybe the championship is all over for us.
“Recent results for Manchester United and Arsenal have put us right back in the race but we cannot afford to lose.
At one stage we seemed to be out of it. Now we are fighting for every point. We have to be focused on getting three points from every game.”
Torres came on as a sub in the Champions League draw with Copenhagen on Wednesday after being dropped.
Again he failed to score, although he did have an effort saved by Danish keeper Johan Wiland.
Ivanovic added: “His goals will come soon. We are all sure of it here. He played well in the previous round against Marseille. He is getting chances. That’s very important and the goals will come.
“Not only do we need to beat City but we also must qualify for the Champions League again because not to do so would be unthinkable.”
Barcelona right-back Dani Alves has been offered to Manchester City after failing to agree a new contract with the Spanish giants. News of the World
WAG OF THE DAY
Kira Eggers, linked with former Everton, Real Madrid and Celtic hard man Thomas Gravesen, has been in the spotlight for a number of years and in 2004 FHM named her their 34th sexiest woman in the world. 7 years later and she is still capable of turning heads with her piercing eyes and more noticeable assets. A writer for various websites and magazines, Eggers is also an actor but in a special type of movie, yes you know the kind I mean!
OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has renewed his interest in Brazilian midfielder Douglas Costa, a player he originally tried to sign 18 months ago. Daily Telegraph
Liverpool's Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina has dropped his biggest hint yet he will quit Anfield this summer. Sunday Mirror
The Anfield club will make an audacious £10m bid to sign left-back Leighton Baines from city rivals Everton. News of the World
Arsenal are considering letting captain Cesc Fabregas rejoin Barcelona this summer, but the Gunners would want around £45m for the World Cup-winning midfielder. Sunday Express
Aston Villa's Ashley Young could be on his way to Liverpool with Kenny Dalglish keen to sign wide players to make the most of striker Andy Carroll - Matt Jarvis of Wolves is also on the wanted list.Sunday Mirror
Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov is desperate to sign a new contract to keep him at Old Trafford for the rest of his career. Talks between the 30-year-old striker's agent and United have hit problems over the length of the deal, with the club offering only a two-year extension on a deal that expires in 2012. News of the World
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has promised an investigation after nightclub photos of three players - striker Leon Best on-loan midfielder Stephen Ireland and reserve team player Stephen Folan - were posted on the internet. Mail on Sunday
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp says he wants Spurs to win the league next season, but his concern this year is for a top four finish. talkSPORT
Sunderland owner Ellis Short will reaffirm his commitment to the club in an address to the Black Cats supporters on Sunday.
News of the World
Jermain Defoe squandered numerous chances in Tottenham's 0-0 draw at home to West Ham on Saturday. The England striker has netted 99 times for Spurs but perhaps tempted fate by wearing a T-shirt under his jersey with words "100 GOALS" printed on in.
News of the World
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