Mancini fears City are losing chase for wantaway Arsenal skipper Van Persie
Roberto Mancini fears Manchester City have lost the initiative in the scramble for Robin van Persie's signature.
Arsenal had been bracing themselves for another approach from City when the teams meet for a friendly in Beijing on Friday but this may not happen.
Mancini has become increasingly unhappy that the Barclays Premier League champions have dithered, possibly missing their chance to capture his prime target, who has told the Gunners he will not sign a new deal when his current one expires next year.
Manchester United and Juventus are also in the hunt for the 28-year-old Dutchman with serious offers on the table and their heritage appeals to Van Persie, who insists his desire to move is fuelled by ambition and not money.
City have the financial muscle to gazump either United or Juventus and can offer an attractive personal package but have become intent on selling Emmanuel Adebayor or Carlos Tevez or both, before signing another striker on big wages, in attempt to acknowledge UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations.
United's current bid is thought to be £16.5million which is close to the limit of what Juventus can afford.
The Italian champions have limited funds are will not go higher than 20m Euros but hope they can tempt Van Persie to Turin with a place as the spearhead of their plans to dominate Italian football once again and their return to the Champions League for the first time since they were punished for the corruption scandal of 2006.
Juventus are offering competitive personal terms, helped by a lower tax rate, and have the advantage that Arsenal would prefer to sell to a club outside the Premier League.
Nicklas Bendtner is considering a move to Galatasaray in Turkey and Andrey Arshavin has planned talks with two clubs in the Middle East this week. A Mail reporter
Roberto Mad-cini: City boss seethes as he sees RvP slipping through his fingers
The champions are now trailing United and Juventus - who are offering £190k a week AFTER tax - in the race to buy the Arsenal striker
Roberto Mancini has had a major bust-up with his Manchester City bosses over their failure to land Robin van Persie.
City manager Mancini is on the warpath and has urged the club’s hierarchy to back him and not chief football administrator Brian Marwood in what has become a stand-off between the two men.
Marwood is determined to offload players - including Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and Edin Dzeko - before going for Arsenal striker van Persie, and is stressing the need to balance the books and prepare for the new Financial Fair Play rules.
Van Persie is tipped for a move this summer after announcing he would not extend his Gunners contract, which expires at the end of the coming season.
He is understood to prefer a move to Italian champions Juventus or City's great rivals Manchester United, and a furious Mancini believes that is because the Premier League champs have not tried hard enough to land the Dutchman.
It has left Juventus and United further ahead of City in the race to sign van Persie, with the Italians indicating they are prepared to pay the £20m Arsenal say is RvP's minimum price after having an initial bid turned down.
Juve have also offered van Persie £190,000-a-week AFTER tax and have held talks with the Arsenal captain’s agent, Kees Vos.
The Gunners are understood to be bracing themselves for a new bid from United, after knocking back their opening gambit of around £12m.
Mancini is in a strong bargaining position, having recently signed a new five-year contract with the club he led to the title in May.
Arsenal are holding firm on van Persie and will not sell for anything less than £20m.
That is likely to be a major sticking point for the three interested clubs as the striker turns 29 next month, is into the final year of his deal and has a poor injury record.
Van Persie has missed Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Asia but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger insists that the club are still determined to make him see out the final year of his contract.
The Open 2012: Royal Lytham official describes Carlos Tévez's caddying as 'madness'
A high-ranking official at the Royal & Ancient yesterday described Carlos Tévez’s caddying in the final round at the Open as “madness” and vowed to look into the issue.
The Argentine striker was invited by his compatriot, Andrés Romero, to carry his bag on Sunday and the Manchester City striker’s involvement inevitably attracted a big crowd. Romero shot an 82 to finish last on 18 over. Jim McArthur, the R&A’s championship committee chairman, sounded unimpressed.
“He never put the bag down, even when he was standing on the green – it’s just absolute madness,” McArthur said. “I think we made need to look at this particular case. We normally get a list of caddies at the start of the week.”
After the round Tévez complained of how much his shoulder hurt. Manchester City are unlikely to be amused if the Argentine reports any injury problems in that area ahead of the new season.
The R&A’s chief executive, Peter Dawson, seemed pleased the impromptu appearance had drawn extra attention to the event. “It was pretty interesting,” he said. “I thought, because of the big crowd following the group, that golf fans and football fans may overlap a little more than I had realised. It’s not a bad thing, perhaps.”
Dawson was asked if he thought Romero’s dreadful round might have been related to his bizarre choice of caddy. “For all I know Mr Tévez may be a very experienced caddie. I’ve got no information as to his background,” he said. “But whether it’s the player’s fault or the caddie’s fault that the score was so high, I couldn’t possibly comment.”
ON THIS DAY - OFFICIAL BOLLOX
Looking back through the history books for the events, signings and memorable matches that happened on this day in City’s history.
Sunday 24th July 2011
City beat LA Galaxy 7-6 on penalties after drawing 1-1 in normal time in the final match of the 2011 North American tour with Joe Hart hitting the winning spot-kick. The game was, however, best remembered for Mario Balotelli’s outrageous attempt to showboat the ball into the net when facing the Galaxy keeper.
Saturday 24th July 2010
Two goals from Yannick Djaló saw City slump to a 2-0 defeat to Sporting Lisbon in the Barclays New York Challenge at the Red Bull Arena. The Blues field several players without first-team experience and Roberto Mancini was pleased with the performances of Academy players like Ben Mee and Scott Kay.
Manchester City striker Santa Cruz eyes Bolton Wanderers move
Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz wants to stay in England and preferably in the north west.
The forward has made it clear that a move to the likes of Wigan Athletic, Bolton Wanderers and former club Blackburn Rovers would be ‘ideal’.
Santa Cruz said: "A north-west club would be ideal. I don't want to keep moving my kids back and forth, it is not good to move them year after year.
"I would like to come back to the area permanently. We love the area, want to send the kids to the schools here, have everything we need there and feel at home."
Manchester City announces new contract with Richard Mille
Manchester City Football Club has announced that Richard Mille will serve as the Premier League club's official timing partner.
Under terms of the agreement, financial details of which were not released, the luxury Swiss watch brand will donate a unique timepiece to auction on behalf of Manchester City's charitable association City in the Community.
According to an official press release, the subsequent money raised from the auction 'will go towards improving the lives of local children, helping them to achieve their goals and exceed their potential through sport and education.'
"We are extremely proud to form this relationship with Richard Mille, who shares our will to innovate and to push the boundaries in achieving our collective aims," said Manchester City interim chief executive John Macbeath. "This new partnership provides many exciting opportunities for collaboration through selected VIP events and a bespoke match-day box experience."
Richard Mille chief executive Peter Harrison added, "We are proud to announce our partnership with Manchester City whilst the Premier League champions are celebrating such a significant moment in the history of the club. Manchester City’s commitment to excellence and innovation perfectly matches Richard Mille’s desire to create unique timepieces with a strong and inspiring identity. We look forward to long a successful partnership with Manchester City Football Club
OTHER BOLLOX
Robin van Persie has refused to sign a new deal at Arsenal this summer Daily Mail
Juventus are edging ahead in the race for Van Persie as they prepare a £20m bid to tempt him away from the Emirates Stadium. Daily Telegraph
Serie A giants AC Milan have opened talks with Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner over a deal to bring the Dane to Italy. Metro
Spain winger Santi Cazorla, 27, has told Arsenal he is ready to join them from Malaga. the Guardian
Feyenoord coach Ronald Koeman has given Aston Villa a week to sort out a deal to buy defender Ron Vlaar, 27. Express and Star
Manchester United are chasing River Plate's Argentine midfielder Ezequiel Cirigliano, 20, who Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain both want to take on trial. Daily Mirror
Departing United striker Dimitar Berbatov, 31, could be on his way to Russia after Zenit St Petersburg declared their interest. talkShite
Alex Ferguson has revealed he considered bringing Didier Drogba to Old Trafford during the summer after the striker, 34, left Chelsea. Daily Mirror
Tottenham have joined Newcastle and Swansea in the race for former Liverpool and out-of-favour Hoffenheim winger Ryan Babel, 25.
Jermaine Jenas has suffered a number of injuries during his time at Tottenham talkShite
Fulham are also apparently considering a bid for Dutchman Babel. Daily Mail
Liverpool are set to bid £10m for Swansea forward Joe Allen, 22. Metro
Andy Carroll has told Liverpool they will not force him to leave Anfield. Daily Star
Zenit St Petersburg have joined the race to sign Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel, 27, with Manchester City and Napoli also interested. Daily Mail
Nottingham Forest want to bring Jermaine Jenas, 29, back to the City Ground as they look to land the Tottenham midfielder. Daily Mirror
Luka Modric has apologised to Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy for initially refusing to fly out on the club's US tour. the Sun
Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere, 20, could be back in action by the end of next month after a year out with ankle and knee problems. the Independent
Scott Parker is set to miss England's friendly with Italy next month as the Tottenham midfielder prepares for surgery that will also mean he is absent for the Premier League kick-off.
Anders Lindegaard faces a battle to be Manchester United's first choice goalkeeper Daily Mirror
Anders Lindegaard has warned David de Gea that he intends to be Manchester United's first-choice goalkeeper this coming season. Daily Mail
Defender Tal Ben Haim's pay dispute with Portsmouth has taken a twist after he told administrators to cut their fees to keep the club in business. Daily Mail
Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor will only be out for a fortnight after being carried off on a stretcher during Saturday's 1-0 win over Chicago Fire. Birmingham Mail
Brazil's party-loving players are to stay away from London's Olympic Park to avoid temptation. Metro
Other MCF.net Transfer Bollox: viewtopic.php?f=119&t=43391&start=125
More bollox later ...
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