Cheers Jim .... astute observation as well!
WAG OF THE DAYhttp://www.inthestands.co.uk/5611Padded out City bollox
MANCHESTER CITY have lined up Emmanuel Adebayor and Stephen Ireland as bait in an £80m package for Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
City will put forward the pairing as part of a sensational deal to bring two of the best players in the Premier League to Eastlands.
Although City fear the pair will only leave Liverpool for another team in the Champions League, they are serious bidders for the world-class duo.
Adebayor has been unhappy at City for most of the season and Ireland has failed to make an impact after winning last season's player of the year award.
City are determined to make their mark in the summer transfer market and the Liverpool pairing are proven Premier League performers.
Although Chelsea remain confident of landing Torres as part of a British record transfer fee, they cannot offer players in exchange.
That is City's bargaining tool as they gear up for some summer spending which has started with two of the world's best players.
Adebayor is valued at around £30m and has four years left on a staggering contract worth £150,000 a week.
Ireland is worth around £10m following a disappointing season at City and is pulling in just short of £4m a year.
Although City's bid for the Liverpool pair is ambitious, they believe they are putting forward a solution to the Kop's financial problems.
They are willing to strike a deal for around £40m cash, plus two players with proven pedigree to assist Liverpool's rebuilding project.
City's other stellar target is Cesc Fabregas, but his advisors have made it clear that he is only prepared to leave Arsenal for Barcelona.
Instead, City are putting together a package they believe could yet tempt the two stars to leave Merseyside.
Adebayor scored 14 times in 26 appearances for City last season, but has rarely looked happy at the club.
Ireland has been making noises all season about his future at City and will quit the club this summer. BOTW
Meanwhile ... Manchester City will raid Real Madrid for striker Gonzalo Higuain if they fail to land Liverpool star Fernando Torres.
If Torres does prove to be out of City’s reach then Roberto Mancini wants free-scoring Higuain to form an Argentine spearhead alongside Carlos Tevez next season.
Higuain’s contract talks with Madrid remain deadlocked, with the Spanish giants refusing to meet his £100,000-a-week wage demands. Mirror
ONUOHA LAUNCHES ATTACK ON MANCINI NEDUM ONUOHA has launched a scathing attack on his Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini.
The former England Under-21 defender accused Mancini of wrecking team-mate Joleon Lescott's World Cup dream, blasted the manager's transfer buys and claimed the Italian "doesn't like me."
Onuoha's outspoken comments look set to spell the end of his City career - despite signing a new five-year deal only last year - and Sunderland are ready to swoop for the £3million-rated Nigerian-born 23-year-old.
Onuoha stormed: "I feel for Joleon. The way he was handled towards the end of the season might have cost him an England place.
"Two weeks before the season ended, the manager came out and said he would be unavailable for the final two games.
"But that wasn't the case because he was coming back into training. He could have played in the final two games."
England coach Fabio Capello named his 30-man squad last week and Lescott - who had recovered from a hamstring injury - was not in it.
Onuoha added: "It's difficult for Joleon. He had been working so hard to make himself available for the World Cup, but he didn't get the luck he deserved.
"I was surprised he wasn't involved at City in the final week of the season.
"Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has been pushing all his players to try and get into the England squad."
Onuoha let rip during Sky's SoccerAM programme yesterday and also blasted Mancini for limiting his first-team appearances.
He added: "It was good to see the club be so successful because I've been there for so long, but I almost feel like I was taking a backseat to a lot of the action.
"When Mark Hughes lost his job, the new manager came in and I don't think he liked me, to be honest.
"I kept myself fit and I was being very professional but, in the end, it just wasn't to be."
And Onuoha was openly critical of the club's transfer policy, claiming Mancini's buys changed the dynamic of the club.
Mancini brought in ageing midfielder Patrick Vieira in January, but Adam Johnson has been a complete success since his £7m move from Middlesbrough.
Onuoha added: "Just because you've got money it doesn't mean you have to spend it, but if you are to spend it, spend it well.
"Make sure it's a player who is going to fit into the team and help the team go forward, as opposed to one who changes the total dynamic of the club." BOTW
Richards lined up by twitchy for £6milTottenham boss Harry Redknapp will attempt to start his spending in preparation for the Champions League next season by signing Manchester City defender Micah Richards for around £6million.
Armed with a substantial transfer kitty, the Spurs manager is not prepared to allow complacency to settle around his club.
He wants to bring in some new faces hungry to achieve success and Richards fits the bill.
The 21-year-old defender has fallen from grace with club and country.
After looking the best young defender in the country a couple of years ago he has dropped out of the England squad and found it hard to hang onto a regular first-team berth at Eastlands.
Sources close to the player admit his career has reached a crossroads and while he is not demanding a move from City he will be desperate to see positive signs that he has a future under Italian boss Roberto Mancini.
Richards does have three years remaining on his current City contract, but Mancini is also reviewing the best ways to improve his squad.
Trading Richards may become an interesting option for him.
Richards is exactly the type of player Redknapp loves to work with.
A talented youngster who may seem short on confidence and in need of a friendly arm round his shoulder and some inspirational man-management.
Richards made his England debut at just 17 and was widely tipped for a huge future in the game.
But the critics claim City’s decision to hand Richards an enormous £50,000 a week contract prior to the purchase of the club by Sheikh Mansour threatened to undermine his career.
Richards has always protested that the critics who branded him a party animal were unfair.
But former City manager Mark Hughes ran out of patience with Richards and axed him, a decision endorsed by his successor Mancini who has continued to overlook him.
Redknapp’s raid on City is unlikely to be confined to Richards though with Craig Bellamy remaining high on his drawn up wish list.
He could also spring another surprise by going back in for Sunderland’s towering marksman Kenwyne Jones - one of his long standing transfer targets. Mirror
Man City approach top architect to design £1billion Eastlands complex Manchester City’s owners are set to appoint top architect Rafael Vinoly as the man to design a £1billion sports and leisure complex at Eastlands that will make the club the envy of the football world.
Sheikh Mansour, who is prepared to spend what it takes to build a team capable of challenging for the top honours on the pitch, has approached Uruguay-born Vinoly to mastermind a stunning 200-acre development that will transform east Manchester.
Vinoly, 66, will get a brief that will include building a £5million state-of-the-art training complex bringing Roberto Mancini’s senior and youth players on to the same site close to Eastlands.
Other ideas being considered are a five-star hotel, sports and leisure centres, restaurants and bars.
But City’s owners also want to make the area a top tourist attraction and it is possible that the development will also include a museum and art gallery.
Vinoly became a business associate of City chairman Khaldoon Al-Mulbarak (above) when he designed the Mina Zayed waterfront project in Abu Dhabi.
Khaldoon is head of the Mubadala Development Company that financed the 150-acre re-development programme aimed at boosting Abu Dhabi’s tourist trade.
Vinoly, who lives in the United States, has company offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Cleveland, as well as London and Abu Dhabi.
His company was a finalist in the design competition for the new World Trade Centre i n New York.
But Vinoly’s speciality is building world-class leisure facilities, which makes him perfect for City’s plan.
