VINCENT KOMPANY is set to commit his long-term future to Manchester City by signing a new deal worth around £34MILLION.
The contract — believed to be for five years and worth about £130,000 a week — is ready to be signed in the next few days.
SunSport revealed the champions were in talks with their inspirational skipper back in May.
City will jet out for a pre-season tour of the Far East on Tuesday but the deal with Kompany is verbally agreed.
He will now be at the Etihad until well into his thirties — a big boost for everyone at the club.
The former Hamburg defender, 26, has impressed with his leadership skills on and off the pitch since taking the armband from the controversial Carlos Tevez last summer.
The Sky Blues hope it could be a double celebration with David Silva also in talks over an improved deal. SUN
Choosing golf over City again, Carlos? Tevez caddies for Romero at The Open
Carlos Tevez's love of golf was well documented during his five-month self-imposed exile from Manchester City last season.
Instead of working on his fitness, he spent his time on the golf courses at home in Argentina.
And clearly those practice sessions paid off as countryman Andres Romero has chosen Tevez to be his caddy for the final round of The Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
But the Argentine will probably not be invited back after struggling to encourage Romero.
He was already well off the pace being set by Australian Adam Scott, teeing off at 8am at Royal Lytham alongside American Chad Campbell.
But his first Open appearance for three years went from bad to worse with a front nine of 42 this morning, dropping the 31-year-old to 14 over par and dead last of the 83 players to make the cut.
Romero, who led with two holes to play at Carnoustie in 2007 before finishing third, carded three double bogeys, two bogeys and four pars. He had been one under at halfway and joint 15th, but carded a 77 yesterday when Tevez restricted himself to spectating. Sportsmail Reporter
City youngster makes Feyenoord switch
Manchester City's Omar Elabdellaoui has joined Feyenoord on a season-long loan deal.
The Norway Under-21 international has yet to make an appearance for City's first team but was an unused substitute in December 2010's Europa League group game against Juventus.
He follows in the footsteps of team-mate John Guidetti, who made a similar move last summer and enjoyed a prolific season in Holland.
"It's an exciting challenge for me and it gives me the opportunity to play regular first-team football that will obviously benefit me and hopefully City as well in the long-term," Elabdellaoui said.
Elabdellaoui signed a new two-year contract with City earlier this year.
Manchester City want to make move for Daniele De Rossi, despite new contract
Roberto Mancini would love Daniele De Rossi as part of his Manchester City squad, that seems to be clear given the amount of strong transfer links with the player over the last year. Indeed, the vast majority of managers would surely love De Rossi, Mancini's Manchester rival Sir Alex Ferguson included.
Pirlo may have been the name who stole the plaudits for the Italian national team at Euro 2012 but De Rossi was just as effective and showcased what he's all about. Today Italian newspaper La Stampa say they've heard from Austria, where Manchester City had been doing some scenic pre-season, that a move for him is on the cards despite the new contract he signed recently.
The rumours were about in the middle of June also and we said at the time:
Speculation has grown this week regarding Daniele De Rossi, initially based on nothing more than him saying at an Italy 2012 press conference that he'd had offers from Premier League clubs in the past and the league interested him.
From there a thousand ships were launched, people playing with tense and implying he'd had those offers this summer. Now a Roman newspaper, Leggo, say that Manchester City are taking it a step further and will be making a bid for the player.
We don't know if this is simply rumour mill stuff based on the previous reports or more concrete. The newspaper isn't one often mentioned in Italy with regards to transfer rumours like this. It's in their print edition but has been quoted byTMW, Virgilio, and others. The gist is that Manchester City will offer €30m to AS Roma plus defender Stevan Savic. The young Montenegrin hasn't established himself at the Manchester club but at 21 years old still has time to do so. They also say that City will offer the midfielder €8m a year, which wouldn't seem enough to tempt him to be honest.
The only way there's the slightest chance Daniele De Rossi will be leaving the Italian capital this summer is if the new contract was simply a way of ensuring AS Roma got a big fee for him as he was coming to the end of his deal.
There's every possibility there's some truth in that last snippet, if De Rossi did want to leave Roma and had done so on a cheap deal or even free transfer then Roma's fans would have chased him out of the eternal city with burning torches.
He respects the club and it could be true, if it's stretching the situation slightly, that a new contract was to protect Roma and the player rather than a sign that he'd be staying there until 2017. Manchester City have been very quiet so far during this transfer window, they may be about to wake up.
VAN PERSIE BOLLOX
Robin us blind: Defiant Arsenal insist they want at least £20m for van Persie
Gunners have rejected £8m Juventus bid, a £10m Man United offer and an approach of around £12m from Manchester City in past 48 hours
Robin van Persie has been told he cannot leave Arsenal for less than £20million.
Arsene Wenger and the Gunners' hierarchy are ready to play hardball with the sulking Dutchman, who will remain grounded when Arsenal fly to Asia for their pre-season tour on Saturday.
The London club have turned down three bids in the last 48 hours, with Juventus offering £8m, Manchester United £10m and Manchester City around £12m.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has publicly confirmed his interest in RvP, saying: "Obviously Arsenal have given out the fact that we've made a bid for him. We try to keep business as close as possible to us until the moment we conclude a deal."
All three bids are well short of Arsenal's valuation - Gunners boss Wenger is determined not to let van Persie go on the cheap, even if the situation is in danger of turning into another embarrassing transfer saga.
Wenger is likely to break his silence on Saturday and insist that van Persie is not going to the Far East simply because he is short of fitness after an extended post-Euros break rather than there being a connection to him wanting to leave.
Despite Fergie telling friends in the game he's confident of getting his man, United have made it clear they do not want to pay what Arsenal are demanding for a player who turns 29 next month, has a poor injury record and is in the final year of his contract.
Arsenal are due to play City in Beijing as part of their tour on July 27 and, embarrassingly, Wenger - who promised not to sell Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas in the same window last year - is in danger of being caught out again.
After Arsenal's mass exodus of stars to Eastlands, which includes Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure, Wenger said on March 9: "We will not lose anybody to Manchester City."
Those words could come back to haunt Wenger.
United's move to sign Van Persie is hanging in the balance because Arsenal are refusing to budge on their £30m valuation of the Dutch striker. Mail on Sunday
United have a key advantage in the fight to sign Van Persie as it emerged that the Dutchman would prefer moving to United rather than to rivals Manchester City or Juventus. Sunday Times
[spoiler]Adam Johnson's wife Stacey Flounders (the brunett one)
[/spoiler]OTHER BOLLOX
United manager Alex Ferguson has been given the go-ahead to gamble more than £50m to win back the Premier League title next season.
Bendtner was loaned out to Sunderland last season Sunday Express
Nicklas Bendtner is set to leave Arsenal this week, with the 24-year-old Danish striker a £7.5m target for both AC Milan and Galatasaray. Sunday Mirror
Barcelona forward Gerard Deulofeu, 18, is on the radar of both Liverpool and QPR. Sunday People
Ryo Miyaichi, 19, could be set for first-team opportunities at Arsenal after Ajax manager Frank de Boer admitted defeat in his pursuit for the winger. Goal.com
Everton are on the brink of re-signing midfielder Steven Pienaar, 30, from Tottenham. Caughtoffside.com
Manager Michael Laudrup has revealed he won't stand in the way of Joe Allen, 22, should the midfielder wish to leave Swansea. talkShite
Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill is to raid former club Aston Villa for defensive duo Stephen Warnock, 30, and James Collins, 28. Sun on Sunday
Sean O'Driscoll's first task as new Nottingham Forest chief will be to run the rule over Kuwait star striker Bader Al-Mutawa, 27. Star on Sunday
Ambitious QPR are making a £6m move for Celtic's South Korean midfield star Ki Sung-Yeung, 23. Sunday People
Liverpool's £35m record signing Andy Carroll will join his team-mates on their pre-season tour in the United States on Monday despite continuing uncertainty about his future. Mail on Sunday
Luka Modric will be fined more than £80,000 after refusing to train as the midfielder attempts to finally force through a move from Tottenham. Sunday Telegraph
West Ham are playing hardball with inspirational midfield star Mark Noble, 25, over his new contract. Star on Sunday
Recreativo de Huelva fans are so appalled by the club's new Minnie Mouse-style away shirt that they have organised a protest rally. Metro
AC Milan stars Robinho and Kevin-Prince Boateng don't like to take training too seriously, so have been working on a routine more suited to a disco than a football field. Metro
more bollox later
