Martin O'Neill wants Ireland to fill hole in Aston Villa midfield
Stephen Ireland is not expected to be included in Manchester City's 25-man Premier League squad this season.
Stephen Ireland is emerging as the key figure in Manchester City's pursuit of James Milner after Aston Villa asked if he could form part of a player-plus-cash exchange.
Ireland is available from City as Roberto Mancini looks to trim an oversized squad and the Villa manager, Martin O'Neill, wants the midfielder to bring more creativity to his team as they prepare to lose their player of the year.
The talks have accelerated in the past few days and it is now a question of whether the clubs can finalise the financial part of the deal. There were strong indications today that there has been a significant breakthrough, with Milner withdrawn from Villa's squad for the friendly against Valencia.
After the 0-0 draw, O'Neill admitted Milner was close to leaving: "We didn't play him against Valencia because there could be something happening in terms of the transfer over the weekend or Monday or Tuesday.
"To my knowledge no fee has been agreed but talks are taking place involving our chief executive and the chairman. I think for everyone's benefit it is probably time to try and get something done. It happened two years ago with Gareth Barry when it was not resolved. I'm sure that no one wants to go down that route again."
Ireland, a product of City's youth academy, spoke recently of wanting to stay at the club and compete for his place in a side which could have £130m worth of new players by the end of the transfer window. But Mancini is not planning to include him in his 25-man squad for this season, having not been overly impressed by the former Republic of Ireland international's form last season. This has been made clear to Ireland and, with the player slowly coming round to the idea, there is a belief on both sides that there could be more movement over the weekend.
"We are close but we still have time," Mancini said. "We are speaking to Aston Villa and we are near. I am hopeful."
Until now, Villa had been asking for a straight fee of £30m, with City making one bid of £18m plus a further £2m in add-ons, and informing Villa they were not prepared to go higher than £24m. The involvement of Ireland could see the clubs reach a compromise for a £27.5m package, taking into account the worth of a player who was voted City's player of the year two seasons ago.
City, however, are no closer to signing Mario Balotelli from Internazionale because of their refusal to meet the £30m asking price, coupled with a reluctance to meet the forward's financial requirements. The player's agent, Mino Raiola, has disputed that the teenager is asking for £180,000 a week but City believe the sums he wants are exorbitant and have found it increasingly hard to compromise.
Raiola has a reputation as one of the more difficult negotiators in the business, although it has not reached the point where City have threatened to walk away. It is, however, an increasing possibility that Balotelli will not be in Manchester in time for the opening game of the season at Tottenham Hotspur next Saturday.
"When you go in for a deal you must be patient," Mancini said. "Inter ask for this amount, and we want to pay something else," Mancini said. The thing is that when you want to buy someone for Manchester City the price is not normal. We want to improve and to do this we must often buy players who will cost more than they normally would. We want to pay the right price for Balotelli but we are closer with Milner. But we still have 20 days of the transfer window and I think we can find a solution."
The former Internazionale manager, speaking at a press conference to parade the club's four major signings, David Silva, Jérôme Boateng, Aleksander Kolarov and Yaya Touré, was asked whether he was confident of getting the best from a player with Balotelli's troublesome reputation. "I work with Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez; it will be easy," he said, jokingly.
losing Ireland to get Milner makes no sense to me
Milner was pulled out of Aston Villa's friendly against Valencia on Friday as his move to City moved ever closer. The Eastlands club will pay an intial £15m fee that could rise nearer to £20m once the player has achieved certain targets.
(The Times)
Manchester City splash the cash on Platt Lane academy
The expansion of City’s Platt Lane complex in Fallowfield will include new leisure facilities, such as a gym and changing rooms, as well as office and seminar space
They have spent the summer signing some of the world’s top footballers, now Manchester City are spending big again – on the stars of the future.
The Blues are to expand their youth training complex at Platt Lane as part of the multi-million pound transformation of the club.
They have applied to improve the complex in Fallowfield – home to the Youth Academy.
They will use open space to the west of the training pitch to build new leisure facilities.
The new centre will include a gym and changing rooms for the young players.
The scheme has already won planning permission from Manchester council chiefs. A design brief submitted to the planning department says: "Due to Manchester City Football Club’s recent expansion, the existing training facilities for the youth team are no longer deemed adequate [and]
therefore require expanding." The extension will give the club more space for youth team training sessions. It will also provide new office and seminar space.
As well as being home to the club’s Youth Academy, the Platt Lane complex, on Yew Tree Road, also hosts soccer schools, coaching and fitness sessions and its pitches are available for hire.
It is the latest in a string of improvements to the club’s facilities.
A new fan zone, called City Square, is being built at the club’s Eastlands home for next season. Fans will be able to enjoy pre-match entertainment, food and drink in the outdoor arena on Joe Mercer Way.
The improvements are part of the multi-million pound investment by City’s mega-rich Abu Dhabi owners.
It will see the redevelopment of acres of land around the City of Manchester Stadium in partnership with Manchester council and regeneration bosses.
Those plans are expected to feature a new training complex to rival the best in the world
TRANSFER BOLLOX
Ghana international John Mensah is to return to Sunderland on loan, according to French club Lyon.
(Press Association)
Arsenal have launched a £23m raid for Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina, but face a battle to lure one of the Anfield club's prize assets. The Sun
Stoke boss Tony Pulis is ready to offload Turkish midfielder-cum-striker Tuncay to Blackburn to help fund his £10m pursuit of Nice forward Loic Remy. Daily Mail
Meanwhile, Pulis is poised to make a £12m offer to West Ham to bring striker Carlton Cole to the Britannia Stadium. Daily Mirror
Blackburn Rovers boss Sam Allardyce is set to make a move for Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker. Daily Mirror
Juventus midfielder Christian Poulsen is on the verge of a switch to Liverpool, according to his agent. Daily Mail
Cesc Fabregas admits he is only staying at Arsenal because manager Arsene Wenger forced him to. Daily Mail
OTHER BOLLOX
Everton defender Phil Jagielka will make his first England appearance since April 2009 in Wednesday's friendly against Hungary at Wembley as part of a number of changes by coach Fabio Capello to the squad that flopped at this summer's World Cup finals. Daily Mail
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was waiting for an approach from Barcelona until the last minute before pledging his immediate future to Anfield. IM Scouting
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is considering ending his interview boycott with the BBC. The Premier League has warned United of the fines the Scot could incur this season if he continues to ignore Match of the Day and 5 live reporters, while the League Managers' Association has tried to persuade the 68-year-old to break his Beeb silence. The Guardian
Leeds chairman Ken Bates believes half of foreign owners of British clubs "don't know what they're doing", branding Liverpool's American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett "jokers". Daily Mail
more bollox later once my hangover disapates ...
