Roberto Mancini rules out Wesley Sneijder, Daniele De Rossi bids
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has cooled speculation that his linked his club with January moves for Wesley Sneijder and Daniele De Rossi.
Dutch international Sneijder is widely expected to leave Inter Milan next month because of an ongoing dispute over a new contract.
However, Mancini has insisted that Sneijder is not the type of player that his squad currently requires.
"Sneijder is a great player, but we have players like (Samir) Nasri and (David) Silva that have similar characteristics. Despite his great quality, Sneijder is not a player that we need," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Meanwhile, Mancini went public with his interest in Roma's De Rossi during the summer and reports had claimed that he would make a second offer in the coming weeks.
This time around though Mancini believes that it would be difficult to tempt the Italian international away from Roma.
"We tried to take De Rossi in the summer, the deal is not going anywhere and the story is over. I think De Rossi remains at Rome, I do not think he will leave," he added.
Mancini was speaking during a trip to Italy, where some reports had suggested that he was scouting potential transfer targets.
Mancini wants a Brazilian: City boss hopes £12m Paulinho can revive title chances
Corinthians attacking midfielder who could face Chelsea in this week's Club World Cup is a January target for the champions - watch him in action here
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Roberto Mancini wants his Manchester City bosses to sign Brazilian star Paulinho in the transfer window.
Mancini has asked his money-men to finance a move for the midfield dynamo, who's set to play for Corninthians in the Club World Cup this week, and hopes to do a deal at around £12 million.
The Italian thinks he needs fresh legs in midfield, where his side have been relying on Yaya Toure and Gareth Barry, with Nigel de Jong sold in the summer and replacement Javi Garcia failing to make an impact.
In addition, Toure could be absent at the Africa Cup of Nations next month, stretching City's squad during a vital period of the title campaign and handing leaders and neighbours Manchester United even more of an advantage.
Mancini, who watched City lose to United on Sunday to fall six points behind them in the table, has been on the trail of Paulinho for months and sent scouts to Brazil to see the 24-year-old.
Paulinho has won eight caps, mainly in friendlies, and City would need to make an appeal to get him a work permit - but their chances would be good.
Corinthians may sell if the price is right, but any deal will come down to whether Mancini can winkle money from City's Arab rulers when he's been warned that he must sell before he can buy again.
City are conscious of UEFA's looming Financial Fair Play rules, and Mancini is also wary the club may be hoarding money in case they need to hire his replacement at the end of the season.
So the Italian wants Paulinho to save his title bid - and also probably his job - and hopes that the club's new transfer supremo Txiki Beguiristain can deliver.
Paulinho - full name Jose Paulo Bezerra Maciel Junior - played in Europe
for clubs in Lithuania and Poland as a teenager before returning home, where he has made his name at Corinthians.
Since the hard-running and powerful Paulinho joined them, the Sao Paulo side have won the Brazilian title and the Copa Libertadores - South America's answer to the Champions League. MIRROR
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini angered senior players with his criticisms of goalkeeper Joe Hart in the dressing room after Sunday's 3-2 defeat to Manchester United. Times
Real Madrid are confident they can beat Chelsea and Manchester City to Atletico Madrid's Columbia striker Radamel Falcao, 26, whose five goals in the 6-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna at the weekend took his tally to 19 for the season. Metro
Mancini: City are MUCH better than United even though we lost the derby! (And I won't sell Balotelli...)
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has claimed his team are still superior to rivals United and has revealed he will not sell Mario Balotelli in the forseeable future.
Mancini and his players are still reeling from Sunday's dramatic derby defeat at home to United and now trail their rivals by six points in the Barclays Premier League.
However, Mancini told a function in Italy that he still believes his team to be better than that from the red half of town.
He said: 'United have more experience but we have a much better team and play much better football.'
Mancini's relationship with young striker Balotelli is under the microscope again this week after he substituted the 22-year-old after 50 minutes on Sunday.
It seems, though, that Mancini is prepared to keep faith in the enigmatic forward. He added: 'We are waiting for the moment he becomes aware of his talent. That is why he is not for sale.'
Mancini would like to sign Roma playmaker Daniele De Rossi this January but, even though the Italian international has fallen out with his club, City are unlikely to lure him to England.
Mancini said: 'I don't believe he will leave at this point.'
Mancini's relationship with his senior players is also under intense strain amid reports of dressing room bust-up following the 3-2 defeat against United.
The City manager, who has come under fire for his autocratic style of management, launched a furious tirade at goalkeeper Joe Hart for failing to keep out Robin van Persie's deflected stoppage time winner, reports The Times.
Mancini was angry that Hart had not set up a four-man wall in a bid to stop Van Persie scoring and is understood to have accused the England No 1 of making too many errors in a verbal blast which stunned his team-mates.
Mancini also singled out Balotelli, Samir Nasri and Carlos Tevez for criticism.
Meanwhile, the Manchester City supporter who ran on to the pitch to confront Rio Ferdinand has issued a grovelling apology for his action during a tumultuous derby on Sunday afternoon.
Matthew Stott, 21, was restrained by Blues keeper Joe Hart and then arrested after he raced onto the Etihad Stadium pitch following Robin van Persie's stunning late winner.
He has since been charged with pitch encroachment and has released a statement through his solicitors. In the meantime, City have removed his season ticket with immediate effect and he will be banned from the stadium for life if found guilty in court of a charge of pitch encroachment.
In the statement, the landscape gardener, from Knutsford, said: 'I would like to apologise to all those affected by my actions yesterday, particularly Mr Ferdinand and the other players. I am extremely ashamed of my actions. I have let myself down, my family down, my fellow fans down and Manchester City Football Club.
'I intend to write personally to Mr Ferdinand to express my extreme regret and apologies and also apologise to Manchester United and their fans. I would like to thank Joe Hart for his actions when I came on the pitch.'
'I have been a fan of Manchester City Football club all my life and I have been a season ticket holder for three years and I attend the games with my father. I have had the same seat in the section next to the away fans for those three years.'DSSC
Gareth Barry: Man City midfielder charged with misconduct by FA
Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association.
The charge relates to an incident which occurred after City were beaten 3-2 at home in the derby against Manchester United.
The FA has taken action "for a breach of its Rule E3 in that he used abusive and/or insulting words towards a match official".
Barry, 31, has until 16:00 GMT on Thursday to respond to the charge.
MCF.net THREAD: viewtopic.php?f=119&t=44704
Shhhhhhh, this didn't happen bollox
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Abu Dhabi girl leads Man City out at derby
Ten-year-old Haleema gets honour after winning Etihad Airways competition
Abu Dhabi: An Abu Dhabi schoolgirl enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime experience when she led out the Manchester City team for the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Haleema Al Marzouqi, aged 10, walked out with Blues captain Vincent Kompany ahead of the top-of-the-table English Premier League showdown after winning competition run by City’s main sponsor, Etihad Airways.
Haleema won the competition ahead of 200 others and her prize also included flights to Manchester and accommodation for her and her brother Mohammad.
She said: “I was really excited to be the mascot for Manchester City. I play football at school and really enjoy it. This was my first time visiting England, it was fantastic.”
During their stay in Manchester, Haleema and Mohammad also enjoyed a bus tour of the city and guided visits to the National Football Museum and the Etihad Stadium.
On the day of the derby, Haleema met the whole City team, including her favourite player Sergio Aguero.
Manchester City fear fan who struck Rio Ferdinand could escape
Manchester City’s tempestuous defeat against Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday led to 13 arrests, with the host club and police continuing their attempts to identify the coin thrower who left Rio Ferdinand with blood pouring from his eyebrow.
Following scenes that Football Association chairman David Bernstein described as deplorable and disturbing, Greater Manchester Police confirmed on Monday that Matthew Stott, a 21-year-old landscape gardener, had been arrested and charged with pitch encroachment after running onto the pitch and towards Ferdinand after United won in stoppage time.
City are expected to give Stott a lifetime ban should he be convicted, but it is understood that efforts to identify the person who threw the coin at Ferdinand could take weeks.
While City have given GMP full access to their CCTV footage of crowd surveillance, both parties are facing difficulty in pinpointing the culprit owing to the distance between Ferdinand and the alleged thrower.
It is believed that no frame offers uninterrupted footage of the coin being thrown and Ferdinand being hit, and that there are several instances of objects being thrown on Sunday, both onto the pitch and between rival supporters.
Despite the ugly scenes at the end of the game, however, GMP insisted that its operation was successful, with the number of arrests comparatively low for this fixture.
GMP chief inspector Steve Howard said: “To have just 13 arrests for a crowd of this size and a match of this proportion is a testament to the policing operation we put in place. Despite fierce rivalry and high tension there was no major disorder.
“However, we will continue to investigate the coin-throwing incident and are determined to work with the club to bring the perpetrator to justice.”
City are unlikely to face FA action as a result of the crowd disorder and pitch invader. With the club having liaised closely with the authorities and United in the build-up to the fixture, the FA would be in a position to sanction City only if evidence was provided to prove that the club had neglected its responsibilities relating to safety and security.
The FA accepts that it is hugely difficult to prevent individuals from throwing coins and running on the pitch.
Former England captain Ferdinand, who was also subjected to racial insults on Twitter, which GMP is investigating, is not expected to pursue legal action against City or those involved in the incidents.
The sight of Ferdinand being left bloodied, in a game screened across the world, prompted an angry reaction from former City chairman Bernstein, however.
“What’s happened is totally unacceptacle, deplorable,” he said. “To see Rio Ferdinand with blood on his face is absolutely terrible. It’s sad to see such a fantastic match followed by these headlines. It’s disturbing that we’re seeing a recurrence of these sorts of incidents.
“We’ve had some racial abuse incidents, pitch incursions, things being thrown at players. It’s unacceptable.
“It’s for the FA, the whole game of football, the authorities to work together and deal with it in a most severe manner. If necessary these people need to go to the court and be banned for life. It’s a social problem. There’s a copycat thing, so it’s important to bring matters to a head. We will do everything we can to stop this blot on the game.”
Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Players Footballers’ Association, called for netting in front of the stands to protect players from objects thrown but the FA and sources at City have privately dismissed that idea.
The Hillsborough Justice Campaign also criticised the proposal. “I don’t think nets would bring safety.” Steve Kelly, an HJS spokesman, said. “The next thing would be wire mesh and then fencing, and we all know what that has meant in restricting people from getting out of areas of a stadium.
“When something is put in place to stop people, people then just take what they are doing to the next level.Preventing missiles is a society thing. With all the money the clubs have, there should be better ways of identifying fans in the crowd who throw things.” Telegraph
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NUMBER 11
[/spoiler]Arsenal are set to move for Manchester United winger Nani. The Portuguese, 26, has not played since the start of November and there has been no progress on an extension to his contract, which expires in 2014. DSSC
Newcastle striker Demba Ba will be sold to either Arsenal or Liverpool in the first week of the transfer window and they will attempt to replace him with Marseille's France forward Loic Remy, 25. Daily Mirror
Real Madrid are close to agreeing a five-year deal with Spanish midfielder Jose Rodriguez, 17, who has been targeted by Arsenal. talkSHIT
Southampton are making a £2m move for Colombian midfielder Carlos Sanchez, 26, who plays for Chilean side Rangers and was linked with Reading and Bolton during the summer. Saints manager Nigel Adkins is also considering moves for Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson, 33, and defender Scott Dann, 25. DSSC
Leeds manager Neil Warnock wants to bring winger Max Gradel, 25, back to Elland Road - if he is unable to make 29-year-old Jerome Thomas's loan signing permanent. The Sun
Huddersfield boss Simon Grayson is ready to pay £1m for West Brom striker Chris Wood, 21, when he finishes his loan spell at Millwall. Daily Star
Wigan are taking former Swansea midfielder Ferrie Bodde, 30, on trial. The midfielder has suffered a succession of knee injuries recently that saw him released by the Welsh club. The Sun
Tottenham midfielder Adam Smith, 21, is in talks with Millwall over extending his loan until June. Daily Star
The chairman of Kick It Out, Lord Herman Ouseley, has criticised the Football Association, the Premier League, Chelsea and Liverpool for a failure of "morality" and "leadership" over their handling of racism incidents. Guardian
Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu may miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, sustained in the 3-1 win at Sunderland. The Spaniard, 21, underwent surgery on Monday, according to Catalan radio station RAC1. El Mundo Deportivo
Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas could be out for five weeks with a thigh problem. The former Arsenal man limped out of the 2-0 win at Real Betis at the weekend. Marca
Former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who is currently taking a break from football, would be better suited to Bayern Munich rather than Chelsea or Manchester City, according to Bayern legend Oliver Kahn. Bild
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