Champions have to throw in England winger Adam Johnson on a season-long loan even if they meet Reds defender's valuation
Manchester City claim they are being asked to come up with a staggering £27million package to get their hands on Liverpool's Daniel Agger.
The Mirror broke the story of the Premier League champions' initial £13m bid for Agger last week.
Now, we understand City have had another bid - of £20m - turned down for the 27-year-old Danish defender.
The timing is awkward, as Agger appeared to be sporting a new tattoo reading YNWA - the initials of Liverpool's You'll Never Walk Alone motto - at training on Monday!
And not only do the Reds want something close to £23m, they have asked for Adam Johnson to be thrown into the package on a year's loan deal.
The £20m bid was made last week and was rejected immediately by Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group.
That runs counter to suggestions from Anfield that Liverpool would do business at that price.
The Reds are said to have indicated privately that they want a package which values England winger Johnson at around £3m-4m.
But City are not prepared to sanction that while also increasing their latest cash offer.
City figures remain confident they can land Agger, who has two years left on his contract and, despite claims to the contrary from his agent, is interested in a move.
Earlier in the day, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers conceded he might do business if the right offer came in for Agger.
Swansea want Sinclair answer as City lie in wait
Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins will hold crunch talks with Scott Sinclair, with Manchester City hovering over to make a bid.
Sinclair is in the final year of his contract and is believed to have caught the eye of City boss Roberto Mancini.
Swansea manager Michael Laudrup said on Monday evening that he was confident of keeping Sinclair at the club, but Jenkins is not prepared to let the former Chelsea winger's contract wind down and lose him for nothing next year.
"At this level of football and with the transfer money which could come in with players leaving in the final year of their contract, we wouldn't want to go down that route again of allowing a player to let his contract run out again," Jenkins is quoted as saying in the Sun.
"With Scott being a first-team regular we need a decision one way or the other as soon as possible so the manager can be clear in his mind on where the team goes and make sure the squad is right for August."
Manchester City poised to hijack Tottenham bid for Brazil star Damiao
Manchester City have checked on Brazil striker and Spurs target Leandro Damiao, 23.
Spurs are considering resurrecting their attempts to sign long-term target Damiao.
They continue to be frustrated in their move to sign City striker Emmanuel Adebayor on a permanent deal.
Meanwhile, Werder Bremen are interested in City striker Roque Santa Cruz, 30. City are giving a trial to UAE midfielder Omar Abdulrahman, 20, from Al Ain after he impressed at the Olympics.
And Wolfsburg are keen to re-sign Edin Dzeko, 26, from City and may offer defender Simon Kjaer, 23, as part of the bid.Sportsmail Reporter
Manchester City and Arsenal both showing heavy interest in Olympian
Premier League champions Manchester City and Arsenal are showing heavy interest in Senegal star Cheikhou Kouyate, revealed the Sun. His exploits at the London Olympics have garnered significant attention as Team Senegal made it to the quarter-finals of the men’s tournament.
The centre-back started out at FC Brussels before joining Belgian giants Anderlecht in 2007. The 22 year-old also enjoyed a brilliant season with Anderlecht last year as the club clinched the Belgian Pro League. The versatile player can operate either as a centre-back or as a defensive midfielder, making him a good value-for-money buy.
Although City have scouted the youngster for quite some time and are favourites to land the Senegalese, Kouyate believes he is not ready to move to a big club just yet. The defender said, “I’m not ready to join a club like Manchester City. I’ll probably be ready within a year or two, There is a big gap between me and the players at City at the moment, like Lescott and Kompany.”
Although his agent confirmed that there is significant interest from top clubs in his client, the player is wary of jumping off to join a big club and face time on the sidelines. With City yet to begin their summer spending, they could make a big money offer for the defensive talent and take him to the Etihad Stadium this summer.
Heads up: Caricatures of Manchester City players star on new Junior Blues website
Junior Blues will be chanting ‘who are ya?’ when they see a new website for Manchester City’s younger fans.
It features a series of caricatures of stars Sergio Aguero and co with huge heads.
Despite the colossal craniums stars such as Carlos Tevez, David Silva – and boss Roberto Mancini – are instantly recognisable.
But fans may be forgiven for not spotting some of the rest of the champions squad.
The site, named City Kicks, was due to launch this morning.
It includes three sections with each aimed at a different age group from the under fives to 16-year-olds.
Micah Richards, who recently starred for Team GB at the Olympics, has his own section, Micah’s Corner, and is looking forward to showing kids what goes on behind closed doors at the Etihad.
He said: "I’m thrilled to be involved in this new City Kicks junior membership. I know from my personal experiences as a 14-year-old youth squad player how inspiring it is for young fans to be made to feel a part of this great club from an early age."
The website is available to members who sign up to City Kicks, which costs £20 a year and is the new membership scheme for under 16s.
Meanwhile the Blues have also signed a deal with ticket exchangers viagogo.
The agreement will see the launch of a service that allows fans to sell match tickets to each other.
Officials say it will give supporters more opportunities to see their team, cut down on the numbers of empty seats and permit season card holders who cannot get to games the chance to make some money. As part of the partnership, viagogo will donate £25,000 annually to a charity or initiative, as chosen by City in the Community.
For a seven-day trial of City Kicks visit http://www.mcfc.co.uk/citykicks
Pundits Make Early Premier League Predictions
The early polls are in and it looks like the pundits can't see much past Manchester City retaining the Premier League title they managed to win by a single kick of a ball last season with 42% going for City to win the league.
Manchester United are lagging behind with 29% of the votes with a surprising 16% plumping for Roberto Di Matteo's Chelsea, 8% going for Arsenal and 5% fancying any other team. It's little surprise then that this matches pretty closely with what the bookies fancy too.
City are as short as even money to retain the title, United available at around 2/1, Chelsea at a skinny looking 5/1 and Arsenal a deceptively chunky looking 12/1. Tottenham and Liverpool are both available at around 30/1 with new managers in tow and from there the odds get really crazy with Newcastle available at 150/1.
Given that the United team was widely believed to be one of the worst Ferguson has had to work with and that with just a few minutes left on the clock at The Etihad the title was going back to Old Trafford, this confidence in City retaining their title may be just a little excessive?
City's Summer Activity
So far City are yet to make a signing this summer and with Dzeko, Adebayor and Kolorov likely to see the exit before the start of the season it's only the fragile, but growing bond of the team that is holding this notion together. Though it is highly likely that at least one mega-money signing will find their way on to the Etihad bench by kick off time in August you can only assume that the strong early belief of City retaining the title comes on that expectation, and top of that list is probably Van Persie.
Whilst the Dutchman had an outstanding season for Arsenal last year it's worth remembering that he really has had only one such season in his Premier League career. Were he to join City, and stay fit all season there would still be question marks as to exactly how much he would add to the strength of the starting 11. City's squad is already bloated with world class strikers coming in to their prime and swapping an Aguero or a Tevez for Van Persie in the starting 11 might not produce as much of a net gain as it appears, though if he joins United he might be able to add more to their squad.
United's Summer Activity
United are also in the hunt for Van Persie’s signature they know they need to strengthen. They have started in earnest with an addition to perhaps the weakest part of their team last season, that of Kagawa in Midfield, with Lucas Moura (winger), and Joao Moutinho also rumoured to be on their way to old Trafford along with Leighton Baines. should United add those 3 to their team and get them to settle quickly you could argue that United's team has strengthened more so than City's and even though the gain might not be huge it should certainly be enough to be worth a couple of extra points which would have given the title to United last season so United might just be the value bet here.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs
With everything that has transpired at The Emirates this summer it looks like Arsenal could lose two major assets and should this happen, even with the excellent additions of Padolski ,Giroud and now Cazorla they may struggle to retain their Champions League place without a spearhead to their attack, but the faith of the pundits is with Wenger to make it 16 consecutive Champions League qualifications for The Gunners and if they hold on to Van Persie then who knows they could even mount a title challenge at some stage of the season as they always seem to when we least expect it.
You'd think there was little to no pundit faith in Villas-Boas at Spurs but just 6% of pundits think they will finish outside of the top 4, with 8% predicting it will be Arsenal that miss out and only 4% saying it will be Chelsea, clearly one of these favoruites will have to miss out on a top 4 spot and the early money is on Arsenal, but only just. We expect them to somehow find their way in to the Champions league once again, probably at the expense of Spurs.
Perhaps the dark horse in all of this is Chelsea, they have a decent backing and looked a far better team under their new gaffer last season. Whilst Drogba, Kalou and Bosingwa have left, the sizeable arrivals of Eden Hazard and Marko Marin and one or two others will add plenty to the squad as will a regular run in the team for Torres.
It is also being suggested that Brazilian striker Oscar could be on the way along with Victor Moses. Their ageing squad and tactics might not be enough to win the league, but they may well just be the team that surprises a few people and mounts the most serious and consistent challenge to the two teams from Manchester.
This article was produced in conjunction with http://www.premierleaguepredictions.com/
[spoiler]Olympic fittie: Zsuzsanna Jakabos
[/spoiler]OTHER BOLLOX
Arsenal will not sell Robin van Persie, 29, for less than £20m and will demand an extra £5m if Manchester United make an offer for the striker. Daily Mirror
Dutchman Van Persie has been offered the same £220,000-a-week contract as the current top earner Wayne Rooney to make the move to Old Trafford. Daily Telegraph
Manchester United's pursuit of Lucas Moura is over after the 19-year-old Brazilian attacking midfielder agreed a four-and-a-half year deal with French side Paris Saint Germain. Daily Mail
Manager Brendan Rodgers is close to reuniting with Joe Allen after Liverpool triggered a £15m buy-out clause in the 22-year-old midfielder's Swansea contract. Daily Express
Athletic Bilbao striker Fernando Llorente has turned down a new contract, putting Chelsea and Liverpool on alert for the 27-year-old. Metro
Aston Villa have offered a three-year deal to Italian defender Simone Farina. The 30-year-old has impressed Villa manager Paul Lambert while playing for Serie B side Gubbio. the Sun
Birmingham City will not be signing 28-year-old former midfielder Darren Carter, 28, who is a free agent, after an unsuccessful trial. Birmingham Mail
Tottenham are being linked with a move for 24-year-old Partizan Belgrade midfielder Mohamed Kamara. talkShit
Blackburn manager Steve Kean says he is close to securing a loan deal for Turkey international striker Colin Kazim-Richards, 25, currently with Galatasaray. Lancashire Telegraph
Sheffield United want to sign Blackburn striker Nick Blackman, 22. Daily Star
Manchester United are on the verge of being announced as the most valuable sports team in the world with shares in the club going on sale on the New York Stock Exchange. the Guardian
An ankle injury could rule Southampton midfielder Jack Cork, 23, out of his club's Premier League opener against Manchester City. Daily Star
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo is expected to name young Brazilian attacker Lucas Piazon in the club's 25-man Premier League list. The 18-year-old impressed during the pre-season tour to the United States. The Times
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is confident France international midfielder Yohan Cabaye is set to be fit for the league game against Tottenham. Evening Chronicle
A Finnish band have released a musical tribute to former Liverpool captain Sami Hyypia, 38. Liverpool Echo
more bollox later ...
