Man City and Liverpool help each other out ahead of Premier League clash
Manchester City and the Merseysiders have teamed up to get their stars back in the UK quickly ahead of their game at the Etihad on Saturday lunchtime
Gabriel Jesus, Ederson and Fernandinho are all in South America for Brazil's latest set of World Cup qualifiers, the last of which is away to Columbia tonight.
With the Blues kicking off early on Saturday lunchtime they want their players back in Manchester as quickly as possible.
And rather than rely on charter flights, they have teamed up with Liverpool, who they face at the Eithad on Saturday, and Chelsea, to hire a private jet.
Wantaway star Phillipe Coutinho is also in the Brazil squad as is Chelsea's Willian will also be on board the flight which will leave straight after the game in the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla on Tuesday night and is expected to see the stars land back in the UK early on Wednesday morning.
Philippe Coutinho #11, Dani Alves #4, Neymar #10 and Gabriel Jesus #9 of Brazil celebrates a scored goal against Argentina during a match between Brazil and Argentina as part 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifier at Mineirao stadium on November 10, 2016 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
It is not the first time they the clubs have co-operated like this, teaming up in a similar fashion to whisk their players back from South America last November.
Coutinho, who was left frustrated after Liverpool refused to sell him to Barcelona before the transfer window closed, is back in contention for the Merseysiders for the crunch Premier League game which kicks-off at 12:30pm having previously been unavailable due to what was described as a back injury.
City's only injury doubt is Ilkay Gundogan with Kyle Walker available after suspension. However Raheem Sterling will miss out due to his red card for over-celebrating his 97th minute winner at Bournemouth.
Leicester City are unlikely to sign former Manchester City right-back Bacary Sagna despite being widely linked with the 34-year-old free agent. (Leicester Mercury)
Signing Tottenham Hotspur star alongside Walker must be top priority for Manchester City in 2018
Manchester City showed this summer that they will not be deterred by high asking prices, meeting Tottenham's demands for Kyle Walker.
If Daniel Levy thought his £50 million plus asking price for the defender would make City back off, it did not work.
Next summer he could be tested with regards to Toby Alderweireld, whose agent has told SkySports the player wants to be offered a high salary or be sold.Alderweireld is the top defender in the Premier League, an accolade Manchester City stalwart Vincent Kompany once held before injuries took their toll on his career.
Kompany is still a key part of City's XI, but he is now 31 and has not played more than 30 league games in a season since 2011/12. Last season he played just 11 league matches.His Belgian international teammate Alderweireld is the perfect replacement, with no injury worries, Premier League experience, and is three years younger at 28.
If Daniel Levy plays chicken with Manchester City and demands a staggering £80 million transfer fee, he might just find Pep Guardiola is ready to pay up.
For City he would be worth every penny, and they should already be preparing to go all out to bring him in next summer and make him their top transfer target.
HRH Prince Harry visited Manchester City Football Club on Monday afternoon to witness first hand City in the Community’s work with The Royal Foundation.
City in the Community have been working in partnership with The Royal Foundation since 2016 and lead the consortium for The Royal Foundation’s Coach Core scheme in Manchester.
Designed to create employment and provide training for the delivery of sports coaching, Coach Core also aims to increase the confidence of the apprentices involved.
The scheme, which is delivered by a consortium of eight organisations including City in the Community, Manchester United Foundation, Lancashire County Cricket Club, Sale Sharks, Eastlands Trust, MMU, Sports Group LTD and Diane Modahl employs a total of fifteen apprentices in Manchester. Of the fifteen, City in the Community have taken on five, who work with the foundation to develop their skills with hands on practical activities.
For HRH Prince Harry’s first visit to City Football Academy, he was welcomed by City in the Community Ambassador Alex Williams MBE, City in the Community’s Senior Operations Manager, Marc Cahill and City Football Group’s Chief Communications Officer, Vicky Kloss.
HRH Prince Harry spent the afternoon meeting with representatives from the Coach Core consortium to discuss the progress of the scheme in Manchester, as well as the benefits to both apprentices and the local community.
Later, he watched City’s Under 12s, 13s and 14s, as well as children from schools across Manchester, go through a series of drills and training exercises in football, multi-skills and rugby, all of which are all covered by the Coach Core scheme.
Celtic would have paid £30m for Roberts - Rodgers
A bid of £30 million wouldn't have persuaded Man City to sell the winger to the Scottish champions, who were prepared to break records to sign him
Brendan Rodgers said Celtic would have broken their transfer record to sign Patrick Roberts on a permanent deal but Manchester City were unwilling to sell the winger.
Roberts scored 15 goals in 43 appearances for Celtic during an 18-month loan spell that ended in May, and the Scottish champions were ready to spend £30 million to make him their player this season.
But City would only agree to a further season-long loan, leaving Rodgers frustrated.
"We would have broken our transfer record for Patrick," said Rodgers, speaking at a charity event in Belfast. "We wanted to find the deal that would get him back here. But he's a Manchester City player.
"We could have offered them £30m and they would have said no.
"They didn’t want to sell. So the best option was to get him back on loan."
Roberts, who has made just three appearances for City since joining the club from Fulham in 2015, expressed his relief that the Premier League club had kept the door open to him one day becoming a part of their team.
"Celtic did try to get the permanent move but, in fairness to City, they wanted to keep me and said that couldn't happen," Roberts told The Scotsman.
"It gives me a bit of hope obviously [City] still think I have a long-term future which is good for me. They will let me express myself up here and enjoy my season.
"The bigger picture for me is to be the best player I can be and play in the best league in the world. For me, it is just to improve every day and get better working with the manager here.
"You never know what can happen in football, so hopefully my career goes the way I plan it to be."
No FFP investigation into City
Manchester City are not to be the subject of a special investigation under Uefa financial fair play rules unlike Paris Saint-Germain. In an unusual intervention, Javier Tabas, the president of La Liga complained that City were 'irreparably damaging the football industry' by creating an inflationary spiral. His intervention had the backing of Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Tebas tried to argue that there was an equivalence between the two clubs because they were state owned and complained about City's transfer dealings over the summer. However, they hardly matched PSG's acquisition of Neymar. Moreover, City have a long pedigree as a football club whereas PSG are a more recent creation.
The club do not believe they are even close to breaching FFP regulations and that would also have been the case had they succeeded in their deadline-day bid for Alexis Sanchez last week.
City, who spent more than £200 million in the summer transfer window, offered Arsenal £55m up front for the Chile forward on Thursday but a deal failed to materialise. footballeconomy.com
WAG OF THE DAY
OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United will make another offer for Real Madrid's Gareth Bale, 28, next summer as manager Jose Mourinho tries to sign a world-class winger. (Sun)
Tottenham must offer central defender Toby Alderweireld improved terms or let him leave for another European club, says the 28-year-old's adviser. (Sun)
Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard wants striker Diego Costa to find a "solution" that means he will start playing for the club again. Costa, 28, has not featured this season having refused to return to training. (Marca, via Daily Mirror)
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis has emailed the club's players to tell them their "improved squad" can challenge for the Premier League title this season. (Daily Star)
Everton midfielder Ross Barkley did not join Chelsea on transfer deadline day because Blues boss Antonio Conte's phone was turned off when the 23-year-old's representatives wanted to discuss his role, according to former Burnley player Joey Barton. (Talkshyte)
Juventus are keen to sign Napoli defender Faouzi Ghoulam. The 26-year-old also interests Chelsea and Liverpool. (Tuttosport, via Talkshyte)
Spain youth international Arnau Puigmal, 16, has joined Manchester United from Espanyol. (MuEN)
Juventus are working towards signing three midfielders when their contracts expire next summer. The Serie A side want Barcelona's Andres Iniesta, 33, Liverpool's Emre Can, 23, and Schalke's Leon Goretzka, 22. (Tuttosport, via 90min)
Roberto Mancini has emerged as a frontrunner to replace Slaven Bilic as West Ham manager should results not significantly improve. (Evening Standard)
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is preparing to sit his key players down for crucial talks when they return from international duty in order to help get their season back on track. (Sun)
Brazil legend Pele has backed Neymar's decision to leave Barcelona and join Paris St-Germain, and believes the fresh challenge will help him win the Ballon d'Or. (Marca)
A Preston North End fan received a surprise when her 'get well soon' letter to defender Tom Clarke prompted him to send a match-worn shirt and thank you card. (John Taylor, via North End News)
Several members of the West Indies cricket team, who take on England in the third Test at Lord’s on Thursday, were at Wembley to watch England v Slovakia on Monday
An open letter from a Newcastle fan to Mike Ashley, which has been shared widely on social media, accuses the club's owner of failing "on all levels". (Chronicle)
Watford striker Jerome Sinclair says behind-the-scenes video covering transfer deadline day at Sheffield United is "one-sided". The Blades came close to signing the 20-year-old on loan. (Watford Observer)
Stoke City's academy boss has challenged the club to develop players good enough to mean manager Mark Hughes does not need to go into the transfer market. (Stoke Sentinel)
GOLDEN BOLLOX
On this day - 2013City's final pre-takeover team: where are they now?
To mark five years since the takeover, MuEN Sport takes a look at what has happened to the 18-man squad from the final game before it happened.
On Saturday August 31 Manchester City notched up a relatively unremarkable victory against Roy Keane's Sunderland side. A Shaun Wright-Phillips brace on his return to the club helped Mark Hughes's team to a comfortable 3-0 victory at the Stadium of Light and lifted them to third in the table.
This was to be the final game that Manchester City played before they were taken over the next day by Sheikh Mansour and the Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment (ADUG) in a deal that changed the face of the club - and the Premier League - permanently.
Here, the B*ll*x takes a look at what has happened to the 18-man squad from the Sunderland game in the five years since.
JOE HART: A rare survivor of the takeover, Hart was 21 and still making his name as the best keeper in England in 2008. He shook off the challenge of Shay Given to stay Number 1 at the Etihad and is still the keeper City trust between the posts.
VEDRAN CORLUKA: Croatian defender who left the door Robinho came in through while it was still swinging. Corluka signed for Spurs on the day of the takeover and spent the next four years at White Hart Lane before moving to Lokomotiv Moscow in 2012.
MICAH RICHARDS: Another to have made it held off the advances of multimillion-pound signings to keep his place at City. The England defender has had injuries to contend with recently but was a major part in City's title win in 2011/12, with no defender in the league assisting more goals than him.
RICHARD DUNNE: City legend and club captain, played throughout the 2008/09 season before being told he could leave following the signings of Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott. The Irish international has subsequently played for Villa and QPR and was unfortunate to be publicly named as everything the takeover was trying not to be when then chief exec said: “China and India are gagging for football content to watch and we’re going to tell them that City is their content. We need a superstar to get through that door. Richard Dunne doesn’t roll off the tongue in Beijing.
MICHAEL BALL: Snapped up by Stuart Pearce in 2007 and went on to become a key member of the team in his three years there. A knee operation kept him out for most of 2009 though and he was let go by City that summer. A few games for Leicester followed, but he no longer plays professionally.
STEPHEN IRELAND: Joined City aged 15 in 2002 and made it through the 'dead grandmother' scandal to become a fans favourite at Eastlands. A favourite of Mark Hughes, he lost form when Mancini took over and left for Aston Villa in 2010 as part of the deal that took James Milner to City. He has just moved to Stoke on loan after spending a year in Villa's reserves.
DIDI HAMANN: A 2006 signing, the German midfielder joined City in acrimonious circumstances when he signed a pre-contract with Bolton only to sign for City a day later. The 2008/09 season was his last as a professional footballer; he never played again after City released him.
MICHAEL JOHNSON: A City protege who was rumoured to be the next big thing, Johnson was playing well in the first team in 2008 before an abdominal injury put him out. Sadly, he never really recovered and was released at the end of last year, three years after his last game.
VINCENT KOMPANY: The Belgian defender was already part of City's plans for a world-beating XI, but only just. He only signed for the club ten days before the takeover, but has gone on to become the heart of the team.
SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS: So good he signed for City twice. Wright-Phillips left for the riches of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in 2005 but returned to Eastlands four days before the City takeover. The England winger featured heavily for two seasons but then fell behind David Silva and Yaya Toure in the pecking order and left to join QPR.
JO: Yet another part of the 2008 revolution, Jo came with a short name and a massive price, signing for £19m in July. The big forward with the big hair failed to make his mark and was shipped off on loan to anywhere he could be flogged to before leaving for good in 2011 to play for Internacional in his native country.
Substitutes
KASPER SCHMEICHEL: The son of the United great was once seen as the next big talent at City after a fantastic derby performance in 2007, but he only actually played eight games for the Blues. Regularly loaned out, Schmeichel stood no chance of replacing Joe Hart of Shay Given and permanently followed manager Sven Goran Eriksen first to Notts County then to Leicester, where he now plays.
JAVIER GARRIDO: A Spanish full back with a flair for pushing forward, Garrido came to City from Real Sociedad in 2007. By the time of the takeover he was far from a regular though, and eventually left in 2010 for Lazio. Since, he has returned to the Premier League with Norwich, signing a permanent deal with the Canries this summer after a successful loan last season.
TAL BEN HAIM: Israeli defender Ben Haim was a £5m signing by Mark Hughes in July 2008, but was another to have a short and unhappy stay at City. It was made clear he was not part of Roberto Mancini's plans when the Italian took over in December of that year, and after a loan spell at Sunderland in the second half of the season, he moved to Portsmouth. After additional appearances for West Ham and QPR, Ben Haim joined Belgian side Standard Liege in 2013.
GELSON FERNANDES: The "best young player in Switzerland" according to Sven, Gelson featured heavily under the Swedish manager, who brought him to Eastlands. Under Hughes and Mancini, his game time was limited and moved in the summer of 2009 to Saint-Etienne. After several loan deals, Fernandes signed for Portuguese club Sporting in 2012 before moving to Germany this summer and signing for Freiburg.
ELANO: Almost a pre-Robinho Robinho, Elano was lauded after a string of impressive performances following his 2007 move but faded over the course of the season. The signings of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Robinho increased competition for places and Elano left for Galatasaray in July 2009. He moved back to Brazil in 2011, signing for first Santos and then Gremio, where he now plays.
CHED EVANS : An academy product that came to City aged 14 in 2002, Evans made his senior debut for City in 2007. The striker did play in the 2008/09 season but chose to leave at the end of the year having seen Bellamy, Adebayor, Santa Cruz and Tevez all come into the club. He moved to Sheffield United and enjoyed considerable success on the pitch but was jailed for five years in 2012 following a rape conviction.
DANIEL STURRIDGE: A promising youth in 2008, Sturridge left at the end of the season for what he felt would be more first-team opportunities at Chelsea. The England striker showed plenty of potential at Stamford Bridge but was too patchy to hold down a regular place in the team. He now looks at home at Liverpool though, and has scored in every game so far this season.
Manchester United claim they have no regrets about not signing £42.4m playmaker Mesut Ozil ahead of Arsenal. The Premier League champions were offered the 24-year-old a month ago, but chose to prioritise trying to buy a central midfielder and left-back (which was obviously successful). Times
The Red Devils are "privately mystified and annoyed" about the criticism of their summer transfer campaign, in which they only signed Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini, 25. United will be busier in the coming windows as new manager David Moyes has time to properly scout potential targets. Daily Telegraph
Athletic Bilbao's Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera, 24, is interested in a £30m January move to Old Trafford after they failed to sign him on transfer deadline day. DSSC
Chelsea's Brazil defender David Luiz, 26, rejected a summer move to Barcelona. Daily Express
Juventus want to sign Real Madrid's Spain international midfielder Xabi Alonso, 31, when his contract expires next summer. Alonso could be a replacement for Andrea Pirlo, who will be 35 at the end of the season. Tuttosport
Fulham's Turkey winger Kerim Frei, 19, could join Besiktas before the Turkish transfer window closes. Metro
Watford and Wigan both want to sign Chelsea's England Under-21 midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah, 18, who spent last season at Vicarage Road on loan. Daily Mirror
Everton are set to offer England defender Leighton Baines a contract extension. Baines, 28, has two years left on his current deal and was the subject of interest from Manchester United this summer. the Guardian
Dutch left-back Alex Buttner, 24, has lost his "sense of trust" at Manchester United, according to his agent, and Besiktas want to take him on loan. talkSHIT
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is set for talks with Yohan Cabaye after the France midfielder, 27, failed to push through a move to Arsenal or Paris St-Germain. Daily Mirror
West Brom's sporting and technical director Richard Garlick says Shane Long's move to Hull fell through because the Tigers attempted to change the terms of the deal after having a £6.5m offer accepted for the Republic of Ireland striker, 26. DSSC
The Hawthorns outfit will now open talks with Long about a new contract. He has two years remaining on his current deal.Birmingham Mail
Venezuela coach Cesar Farias is struggling to pick a team for Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Chile after losing 20 players to a stomach bug. Metro
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's son has signed for Fulham. Jose Mario, a 14-year-old goalkeeper, has joined the youth set-up at neighbours Fulham on a one-year contract after after a successful trial. DSSC
