Balotelli boost for Manchester City as striker could be fit to face United at Old Trafford
Mario Balotelli returned to Manchester on Monday with City manager Roberto Mancini spying the derby clash at Old Trafford later this month as a potential comeback match for the controversial Italian.
Mancini has been relieved to discover the knee injury Balotelli suffered scoring a hat-trick against Aston Villa on December 28 is not as bad as he initially feared and the youngster will not require an operation.
He will not be considered for Wednesday's Premier League trip to Birmingham though, or the home encounter with West Bromwich at the weekend.
However, by the time City head across town to face United on February 12, Mancini does think Balotelli could be ready.
'I hope everything is okay with Mario,' said Mancini. 'I think he could be ready for the derby.'
Balotelli could end up being part of a pretty potent strikeforce for the Eastlands outfit, with skipper Carlos Tevez and £27million new-boy Edin Dzeko, whose status as the biggest transfer of the January window was blown out of the water by the staggering deals involving Fernando Torres and Andy Carroll.
But Dzeko has already made a significant contribution on the field, scoring the equaliser at Notts County that staved off the potential for total humiliation at Meadow Lane.
Unlike Torres and Carroll, Dzeko is having to get accustomed to life in England. And, although the Bundesliga is often portrayed as the second most physical league in Europe, the former Wolfsburg front-man has been caught out by the sheer strength of the teams he is encountering.
'It's very different and harder than the Bundesliga,' he said. 'I never played any games like this in Germany, not when you have to fight for 90 minutes. But if I want to be successful in England, I have to get used to it.'
City midfielder Gareth Barry certainly feels Dzeko has not done himself any harm by grabbing his first City goal on Sunday, the effects of which could be far more wide-ranging than simply earning an FA Cup replay with Paul Ince's men.
'It was an important goal for him,' said the England midfielder. 'The longer a striker goes without a goal the more it can affect him.
'Strikers thrive on confidence, so I hope this settles him down. and it can be the first of many because Edin can be a big star for Manchester City.
'When you look at his record, his ratio of goals to games is very good. "If he can keep that going at City, he is going to do very well.'
Palermo - City were in for Javier Pastore
Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini claimed that the Manchester City manager had called him on deadline day with an enquiry about the Serie A side’s 21-year-old playmaker Javier Pastore.
But the confused Zamparini said that he could not do a deal as “I cannot speak English!”
Two of City’s 2008 FA Youth Cup-winning side made their way out of Eastlands as the window was closing, with Whitefield lad David Ball – who was on the bench for the league derby at Old Trafford – joining Peterborough for an undisclosed fee.
And midfielder Andrew Tutte, who has had loan spells at Rochdale and Shrewsbury, has gone to Yeovil on another temporary deal.
Bundesliga Comment: Dzeko-less Wolfsburg - Panic Purchases Or Shrewd Signings?
With Wolfsburg welcoming six January arrivals, Luke Matthews looks at whether the new signings will have a positive impact at the Volkswagen Arena or whether Steve McClaren and co have just thrown money at their problems...
With the inevitable sale of Edin Dzeko taking place this January, Steve McClaren has moved fast to replace the burly Bosnian and in turn spend a significant proportion of the gigantic €32 million received from Manchester City. In total the January transfer window has seen six new additions added to a team languishing down in 12th place. The marquee signing and most obvious direct replacement for die Wolfe appears to be the signing of Partick Helmes from Bundesliga rivals Leverkusen for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around €8 million.
The ex-England manager has also bolstered his squad with the arrivals of Tuncay Sanli from Stoke City, Dieumerci Mbokani on loan from Monaco, Anderlecht midfielder Jan Polak and Asian Cup top goalscorer Koo Ja-Cheol from Jeju United while Venezuelan starlet Yohandry Orozco joins from Zulia FC.
So are these panic buys after the departure of star striker Dzeko or will they prove to be valuable additions to an already strong side that has been guilty of under-performing this campaign? Only time will tell is the answer.
The Helmes signing could be an excellent piece of business if the ex-Koeln man can stay fit - and that is a big if.
The 26-year-old striker has only started half of Leverkusen's games this season - 15 out of a possible 30 - due to injury but has scored an impressive 12 goals despite never really looking fully-fit. Goals are sure to be guaranteed if the German international can keep fit, but it would appear Helmes' dire fitness record has been taken into consideration with McClaren's other signings.
Two more strikers arrive at the Volkswagen Arena in the shape of Mbokani, arriving on loan from Monaco for the rest of the season, and Tuncay, joining the 2008-09 Bundesliga champions from Stoke City. The latter is a striker of considerable skill with a decent scoring record to boot. It is hard to imagine the Turkish international not improving the Saxony club's squad, especially when you take into consideration his versatility along the front line.
Mbokani is a different case altogether. No beating around the bush here - the Congolese striker has flopped big time since his summer arrival at Monaco from Belgian club Standard Liege. The 25-year-old's one goal all season would have left him very short on confidence and it will be McClaren's job to try to get the player producing the kind of football that earned him a big money move to the Monegasque club in the first place.
His poor form this season represents a gamble, yet the Wolfsburg board will view a loan deal as relatively low risk despite there still being a question over the ex-Standard Liege player's ability to cut it in one of Europe's bigger leagues.
McClaren's other senior signing is that of ex-Neurnberg midfielder Jan Polak. It will be interesting to see how the Czech midfielder, signed from Anderlecht for an undisclosed figure, will settle into life at die Wolfe. It would appear that the versatile holding midfielder will come into the middle of the park alongside Josue to add some much needed stability to a side who have lost the midfield battle too often this season.
If Polak is not the answer then maybe Koo Ja-Cheol will be. The talented South Korean was one of the stars of this year's Asian Cup and it looks like Wolfsburg have pulled off a real coup by landing the much-coveted midfielder with European giants Liverpool also sniffing around. The ex-Jeju United player will be hoping to have an immediate impact on the Bundesliga like Shinji Kagawa at Dortmund, and with the potential he has already shown few would bet against him becoming a future star for Wolfsburg.
McClaren will be hoping that Orozco will be the final piece of the jigsaw for his Wolfsburg side. The 19-year-old Venezuelan will be an unknown quantity in the Bundesliga but the talent is there, that's for sure. His goal last week for his country in an under-20 game versus Peru introduced the diminutive attacker onto the world scene. The youngster is unlikely to feature much this season but is certainly seen as one for the future.
With the departure of Dzeko it is understandable that all eyes will be on Helmes, Tuncay and Mbokani as the men to provide the goals for a flailing Wolfsburg side. McClaren will certainly be looking for an immediate return from the three men, otherwise he may not be around to see whether his new look side perform better in 2011.
Chelsea and Manchester City confident they will meet Uefa financial fair-play rules
Chelsea and Manchester City are confident that they will meet Michel Platini’s new financial fair-play rule despite a fresh warning from Uefa and general shock across Europe at Premier League spending during the January transfer window.
Adriano Galliani, vice-president of AC Milan, summed up the mood on the Continent yesterday when he described the behaviour of English clubs as “crazy”. Uefa also issued a statement to remind clubs that it would apply its new rules “with rigour”.
Chelsea's decision to spend £72million on the day that they announced annual losses of £70.9million hardly appears compatible with Uefa’s break-even principle but, according to club sources, they remain firmly on target to satisfy Platini’s requirements.
That is mostly because previous spending cuts will result in the club going close to the break-even target in the accounting year for 2010-11.
Chelsea and Manchester City are acutely aware of key caveats in Uefa’s 85-page financial fair-play handbook. Clubs will be permitted up to £38.5million in losses in the first monitoring period of 2011-12 and 2012-13.
However, even if they miss that target, they will also escape sanctions if they meet two requirements: the trend of losses is downward and, most significant of all, the overspend is caused by commitments on wages and transfer fees that were made before June 2010.
That means that, in the first accounting period, clubs can write off the cost of wages that arose from contracts agreed prior to last summer’s transfer window. This will act as a potentially crucial safety blanket for clubs such as Manchester City, whose most recent annual losses were £121.3million.
It also goes some way to explaining why, even amid the spectre of financial fair-play, English clubs have collectively spent more than in any previous January transfer window.
Chelsea believe that they are on course to meet Uefa’s rules even without writing off any of their spending commitments before June 2010.
That is because of new commercial deals, an increase in ticket prices, a reduction in the players’ bonus scheme and the departures last summer of Michael Ballack, Joe Cole, Juliano Belletti, Ricardo Carvalho and Deco. That saved about £20million in wages.
The club are also confident that a deal worth more than £10million a year will soon be announced for the naming rights to Stamford Bridge.
Monday’s purchases of Fernando Torres and David Luiz will be amortised over the length of the respective contracts, creating an additional outlay before wages of about £14million a year until 2016.
Yet, if Torres and Luiz play a significant role in keeping the club in their recent position among Europe’s elite, Chelsea would consider that a prudent use of their resources.
“The club is in a strong position to meet the challenges of Uefa financial fair-play initiatives which will be relevant to the financial statements to be released in early 2013,” said chief executive Ron Gourlay.
Others, however, remain rather less optimistic. Galliani, whose Milan team face Tottenham in the Champions League this month, said: “Everyone’s talking about balancing the books, but then they spend like crazy people. [Chelsea] strengthened in an amazing way. I just don’t know where financial sense will end up.”
In its statement, Uefa made a point of warning that the vast spending of this transfer window would be taken into account when it applies its new regulations.
“Transfers made now will impact on the break-even results of the financial years ending 2012 and 2013 — the first financial years to be assessed under the break-even rule,” Uefa said. “The clubs know the rules and also know that Uefa is fully committed to implementing them with rigour.”
Uefa excluded 27 clubs between 2005 and 2011 for not meeting its existing licensing rules.
The Premier League, however, is confident that none of its clubs will be excluded from European competition in 2014-15, the first season when disciplinary sanctions could be implemented.
Amid all the deadline-day drama in England, it was striking that the other major European leagues were generally cautious.
Indeed, England’s top six deals – Fernando Torres, Andy Carroll, Edin Dzeko, David Luiz, Luis Suárez and Darren Bent — were all higher than any other transfer across Europe. On its own, the Premier League spent more than the combined outlay in the top flights of Spain, Italy, Germany and France.
However, the extravagance in England was largely explained by the decision of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to reopen his chequebook. Without his input, the net spend in the Premier League would have been about £20million.
“When you scratch beneath the surface you find that around 80 per cent of the total spending of £225million is concentrated across only four clubs and spread across only six players,” said Dan Jones, a partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte. “This was a particularly polarised window.”
OTHER BOLLOX
Real Madrid defender Pepe is stalling on a new deal in Spain as he is aware Chelsea are interested in him.talkSPORT
Zoltan Gera is ready to leave Fulham on a free transfer in the summer, with Newcastle, Stoke and Birmingham all interested in the 31-year-old Hungarian midfielder.Daily Mail
Arsenal are keeping tabs on Omar Salgado, a 17-year-old Mexican striker at Major League Soccer side Vancouver Whitecaps. Daily Mirror
The Gunners are also interested in Paris Saint Germain defender Mamadou Sakho who is in talks over a new contract in the French capital.Inside Futbol
Chelsea may add 23-year-old Napoli striker Edinson Cavani to their squad in the summer as manager Carlo Ancelotti seeks to bring in younger players to an ageing squad. Caught Offside
Leicester hope to sign Chelsea defender Jeffrey Bruma on loan following the Blues' deadline day capture of Benfica centre-back David Luiz. the Sun
The timing of former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres' request for a move - three days before the end of the transfer window - was dictated by Liverpool. The Reds wanted to tie up the signing of Luis Suarez before allowing the Spaniard, who has joined Chelsea, to depart. the Sun
Liverpool tried and failed to get a gentleman's agreement included in the contract of Torres stating that the Spaniard would not play against them on Sunday when the Reds visit Stamford Bridge.the Guardian
Liverpool have denied seeking any such arrangement and instead are concentrating on getting striker Luis Suarez's paperwork in order in time for the Uruguayan to play against Stoke on Wednesday evening. (the Independent)
Arsenal playmaker Samir Nasri, who has 18 months to run on his current contract, will accept a five-year extension, guaranteeing him a weekly wage of £75,000.the Sun
Tottenham playmaker Luka Modric is likely to miss Tottenham's next two matches - away to Blackburn and at home to Bolton - after undergoing surgery for an appendicitis.Four Four Two
Spurs defender William Gallas is close to agreeing a new two-year deal with the White Hart Lane side. the Sun
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew concedes his team are "vulnerable" after the sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool. Daily Mirror
The Premier League says there is no likelihood of the transfer window being scrapped, despite criticism by the League Managers' Association. Daily Telegraph
Wolves striker Steven Fletcher may have played his last game for Scotland after reportedly rejecting a call-up to the latest squad in a text message. Daily Mail
West Ham striker Benni McCarthy has turned down the offer of a £1m pay-off in return for tearing up his contract. The South African has made 14 appearances since arriving at Upton Park in January 2010. Daily Telegraph
Fernando Torres's father Jose says he sympathises with disillusioned Liverpool fans following his son's move to Chelsea. Daily Mirror
Former Liverpool midfielder Ryan Babel, who was punished for unflattering comments on Twitter about referee Howard Webb, used the social networking site to say thank you to Liverpool fans after his move to Hoffenheim. Daily Mail
SKY SPORTS UNDERSTANDS BEST MANCHESTER SIDE BOLLOX
Manchester marvels
Your chance to pick an all-time line-up from City and United
Best, Law, Charlton, Bell, Lee, Summerbee, Ronaldo, Tevez, Beckham, Barnes... the list of Manchester football legends is a long one. Throw in the likes of Cantona, Kinkladze, Goater and Giggs and between them United and City could field several sides that would grace English football in any era.
As part of the countdown to the 159th Manchester derby, live on Sky Sports wants to know YOUR all-time Manc XI.
Our studio guests at Old Trafford on February 12 will be former United striker Dwight Yorke and City favourite Mike Summerbee and they have compiled their list of Manc legends for you to choose from.
Between now and the game we will be running a series of polls for each position, with candidates from both clubs so you can decide just who is the cream of Manchester.
Dwight and Mike have come up with no fewer than 44 names from each club's past and present, which means 88 players vying for 11 places... so use your vote wisely! And we are looking for players in a standard 4-4-2 formation.
Each day there will be a new poll and a new position. For instance, there will be four right-backs from City and four from United and whoever picks up the most votes will go into our side - which we will reveal on air before the Saturday lunchtime showdown at Old Trafford.
Today's poll is for the all-time Manchester XI left-back. Check through the list and then cast your vote...
SAM BARKAS - City (1933-38, 1945-47)
ROGER BYRNE - United (1949-58)
TONY DUNNE - United (1960-73)
GLYN PARDOE - City (1961-75)
WILLIE DONACHIE - City (1968-80)
ARTHUR ALBISTON - United (1974-88)
PAUL POWER - City (1975-86)
DENIS IRWIN - United (1990-2002)
Vote: http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 30,00.html
The mancityfans.net football forum
The BEST FORUM in all the land and all the world
