Saturday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

Manchester City prepared to raise bid to £25m for Aston Villa's James Milner
Manchester City are preparing to step up their attempts to prise James Milner from Aston Villa by making a second bid in the region of £25 million for the England midfielder.
City had an initial offer of £20 million for the former Newcastle player rejected by Villa in May, but despite Villa valuing Milner at £30 million, City believe they can agree a compromise figure with the Midlands club.
And although the City hierarchy and manager Roberto Mancini are now in the United States at their Portland training camp, a new bid for Milner is expected to be submitted once the club move on to New York early next week.
Edin Dzeko hungry for Man City move Milner, who is on holiday following his involvement with England in the World Cup, has refused to be drawn publicly on his future.
Villa remain keen to negotiate a new contract with their £12 million record signing, but the 23 year-old has so far failed to sign an extension to the two years left on his deal.
Manager Martin O'Neill conceded earlier this week that it has become 'more difficult than ever' to retain the services of players who express a desire to leave a club.
Having had a £17 million bid accepted by Lazio for the Serbian left-back Aleksandar Kolarov, City will take their summer spending to close to £80 million if they can agree personal terms with the defender.
That figure will rise beyond the £130 million mark if City can agree a deal for Milner and the Wolfsburg forward Edin Dzeko, who remains a target despite the German club raising their valuation of the player to £40 million, with Juventus entering the race for his signature.
Attempts to lure the Inter Milan forward Mario Balotelli to Eastlands are ongoing and City have informed the European champions of their interest in the player. The club have yet to lodge a formal bid for the 19 year-old, who rose to prominence at the San Siro during Mancini's spell there as manager.

NO DEAL FOR KOLAROV YET - LAZIO
Lazio insist they have yet to receive a written offer from Manchester City for Aleksandar Kolarov.
Reports in England and Italy have suggested the 24-year-old full-back is close to joining the big-spending Eastlands outfit. But Lazio president Claudio Lotito is adamant there is currently no deal in place.
"Right now Aleksandar is a Lazio player and there is no agreement with Manchester City because I have not received a written offer," he said.
The Italian media claim the two clubs cannot agree on a transfer fee with Lazio having placed a 22.5million euro price tag on the player and City willing to offer a reported 18million euros.
"Until an offer arrives we cannot discuss if there is a disagreement between the two parties (Lazio and Manchester City)," added Lotito.
Kolarov is under contract with the Serie A outfit until June 2011 but the Serbia international, who is currently on holiday, could leave the Rome side in the next 24 hours, according to Lazio coach Edy Reja.
Reja said: "His (Kolarov's) transfer will happen soon. We are closely monitoring what is happening."

Redknapp Keane to finance Bellamy move
Harry Redknapp is ready to sell Robbie Keane to Aston Villa – to finance a move for Craig Bellamy.
Tottenham boss Redknapp is keen on a £5million deal for Bellamy, who is set to be offloaded by Manchester City to accommodate their latest influx of top players.
And Redknapp is willing to sacrifice Keane, 30, with Spurs already understood to be ­negotiating with Villa.
Keane, currently on tour in America with Spurs, will not be allowed the leave the club on loan next season after spending the second half of the last campaign at Glasgow’s Celtic.
The Irishman went on to score 16 goals in 19 games for the Old Firm giants and new Bhoys assistant boss Johan Mjallby confirmed only last week they want Keane back on loan.
But Redknapp said: “I wouldn’t think that’s a possibility because we paid good money for him and to loan him out again, it wouldn’t be a goer.”
Villa – who reached the Carling Cup final and the FA Cup semi-final last season – missed out on Champions League football by just six points because of a lack of firepower up front.
Boss Martin O’Neill is targeting reinforcements with a move to rival Sunderland for City’s Stephen Ireland also believed to on the cards.Midfielder Ireland is being targeted as a replacement for James Milner, who remains determined to move in the opposite direction.

Inter Milan hope to spark a bidding war between neighbours Manchester United and City for striker Mario Balotelli. Daily Mirror

Lombardo officially joins Man City
Attillio Lombardo has officially joined Manchester City's backroom team.
The former Crystal Palace attacker played with City boss Roberto Mancini at Sampdoria and with Italy.
Lombardo has spent his time since quitting playing working with young players at Sampdoria and then in full control of Swiss side FC Chiasso.
“It is great that Attillio has come to join us,” Mancini told City's website.
“He was a top class player and he will bring lots of experience and a winning mentality to the group. I know he is excited at being at Manchester City and I know that he loves the English game from his time in London.”

WAG OF THE DAY
http://italy.theoffside.com/wags/wag-of ... relli.html

TRANSFER BOLLOX
Chelsea will step up their pursuit of Liverpool striker Fernando Torres and have decided to bid a club record £50m for the Spain star. the Sun

Arsenal are winning their battle to keep hold of star midfielder Cesc Fabreags, who is wanted by Barcelona. the Sun

Portsmouth defender Tal Ben Haim is set to become West Ham's third signing of the week following the arrivals of Pablo Barrera and Lyon striker Frederic Piquionne. Daily Mail

But West Ham appear to have missed out on the chance to sign Aston Villa midfielder Steve Sidwell who looks set to join Fulham in a £2m deal. Daily Mail

Zenit St Petersburg hope to sign Porto defender Bruno Alves amid fears Manchester United could make a move if Nemanja Vidic should leave Old Trafford. Daily Mail

Vidic wants to quit Old Trafford for Real Madrid with the Spanish club preparing an £18m deal for the Serbian defender. the Sun

Newcastle's veteran goalkeeper Steve Harper has ended talk of a move to Celtic by saying he wants to remain with the Magpies "for as long as possible". Daily Star

Tottenham winger Giovani dos Santos is wanted by Sporting Lisbon on loan and could be used to bring forward Yannick Djalo to White Hart Lane in a £4.2m deal. Daily Mail

Sunderland have confirmed their interest in bringing Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck and Burnley winger Chris Eagles to the Stadium of Light. Daily Mail

Bolton boss Owen Coyle has been given first option to bring midfielder Jack Wilshere back to the Reebok should Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger send him out on loan again. Daily Mirror

Everton have been told to forget about bringing Landon Donovan back to Goodison Park on a full-time basis. LA Galaxy forward Donovan had a successful loan spell with the Toffees last season. Daily Star

OTHER BOLLOX
Ajax boss Martin Jol has agreed a deal to take over as Fulham manager, with former England coach Sven Goran-Eriksson missing out on the job. Daily Mirror

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed he twice turned down the chance to coach the England national team. Daily Telegraph

World Cup referee Howard Webb will miss the first fortnight of the new Premier League season so that he can recover from the strain of officiating the bad-tempered final between Spain and Holland. Daily Mirror

New Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers, who was mentored by Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, says he can always turn to the 'special one' for advice. Daily Mirror

[CITYSTEVEDON]

not much bollox tyhere son, must do better lol

[colonel_muck]

realistically you just can't justify paying £50m for fernando torres anymore. he's fucked now. granted he'll score you goals when (if) he plays but he's the new michael owen in terms of injury. though i suppose if us or chelsea bought him we'd have enough options for someone else to step in.

[Buffalo Soldier]

realistically you just can't justify paying £50m for fernando torres anymore. he's fucked now.

What a load of shit. He's had one season where he has been consistently injured and a large part of that was due to the scousers rushing him back at every opportunity cos they've got fuck all else. He made 32 appearances thoughout the season and bagged 22 including 18 in 22 league appearances which would have made him our 2nd top scorer.

If there is any chance of us getting him then we should go all out for it.

[dazby]

I'd give him time off til the new year if he was my player. He's just not right.

[craigmcfc]

What a lovely weekend WAG

[SilvaKrAzY]

The bit about Milner disappoints me. He's far too average, Can't cross or 'owt. I think we should just scrap the bid and leave him.

[ryanmjo]

The bit about Milner disappoints me. He's far too average, Can't cross or 'owt. I think we should just scrap the bid and leave him.

That's how I feel as well. To be fair to him though, I haven't watched Villa play a whole lot, and am basing my thoughts more on his England performances, which probably isn't the best way to do things.