Joleon Lescott may consider January move from Manchester City
Manchester City's out-of-favour defender Joleon Lescott may consider a move in the January transfer window, and the Italy manager, Cesare Prandelli, believes Mario Balotelli would benefit from leaving the club to return to his homeland. Balotelli is having an uneven season, with the striker also taking City to a Premier League tribunal on Wednesday after City fined him two weeks' wages for ill-discipline that caused him to be suspended for a total of 11 games last season.
Although Roberto Mancini is vowing to stick by Balotelli despite the 22-year-old's decision to challenge the club's action, Prandelli told Rai Sport: "Mancini is absolutely right, Balotelli must listen to him, I agree with him. Everything depends on Mario, however. Coaches can try to stimulate and negotiate with you but everything must start from him. Returning to Italy could help him. It's important for him to have continuity; the city or the country is not the problem."
Whereas Balotelli is determined to stay beyond the winter transfer window, Lescott will assess his future if he does not force his way back into Mancini's first-team plans over the festive holiday programme.
Lescott is fourth-choice under Mancini – behind Vincent Kompany, Matija Nastasic and Kolo Touré – despite being a regular in the England squad, with the 30-year-old having started only seven league games this season. Touré is now Mancini's choice as a substitute in the match-day squad due to the Italian's preference for a right-sided central defender should Kompany or Nastasic be injured.
Although Lescott is determined to fight for his place he is keen to play and maintain his status as a regular member of Roy Hodgson's England squad and so is prepared to move should he feel the need to, with his former club Everton heading the list of potential suitors.
Lescott would be open to a return to Goodison Park, though with Toure's absence in January due his playing for the Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations, he may get an opportunity to prove himself.
Kompany, who missed Saturday's 3-1 win at Newcastle United because of a groin problem, could be available for the weekend's visit of Reading.
The City captain, who suffered the injury in the 3-2 derby defeat by Manchester United eight days ago, saw a specialist last week and is hopeful facing the Premier League's bottom club.
Get rid of Balotelli! Mancini urged to ditch controversial striker as Italian takes club to tribunal over £340,000 fine
Roberto Mancini has been urged to leave Mario Balotelli out in the cold this Christmas as Manchester City prepare to face their errant Italian at a Premier League tribunal on Wednesday.
Balotelli was left at home by Mancini for the weekend trip to Newcastle with the City boss citing poor fitness. Now Balotelli will accuse the Premier League champions of unfairly fining him £340,000 for poor discipline at a tribunal this week.
Sportscunts can reveal that only the wilfulness of Mancini is keeping Balotelli in the first-team picture at all and indeed at the club.
Some senior players at the Etihad Stadium and indeed members of Mancini’s coaching staff are now so fed up with Balotelli and his distracting influence in the dressing room that they have told the City boss the squad would be better off without his young protégé.
The feeling is that Balotelli’s occasional moments of effectiveness on the field are now far outweighed by the circus that constantly surrounds him away from the pitch.
Senior figures now hope that Mancini leaves him out of the first team picture over Christmas – starting with Saturday’s home game with Reading - until he learns his lesson and sorts himself out.
City played well at Newcastle in winning 3-1 and were especially effective when the likes of Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and David Silva had the ball. Many at City have seen this as a sign that the team can cope perfectly well without Balotelli as they endeavour to catch leaders Manchester United.
In some people’s eyes, the final straw hasn’t come with news that Balotelli wants to fight his own club at a tribunal but rather with his performance against United at the Etihad Stadium eight days ago.
Mancini surprised everyone by choosing Balotelli ahead of Carlos Tevez and it is now understood that the 22-year-old was sent out with direct instructions to run straight at United’s veteran defender Rio Ferdinand whenever he had the ball.
Mancini felt that Ferdinand’s legs 'have gone' and that Balotelli could trouble him. Hardly at all in the game did Balotelli follow this instruction, though, something that led to his substitution five minutes in to the second half.
It is widely presumed that City will try to move Balotelli on in the January transfer window. This, however, is far from certain as Mancini continues to cling to his own belief that he can shape the former Inter player in to the finished article.
Mancini, though, is the only person at City who believes this to be the case. DSSC
Roberto Mancini sanctioned charges against Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli
Manchester City exit looms for striker as his manager appears to lose patience over poor discipline
The Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has personally sanctioned the £340,000 fine and misconduct charge for Mario Balotelli, which the striker is to fight at a Premier League tribunal – pushing him closer to an exit from the club.
Mancini has been isolated for months in his desire to persist with the player but is behind his club in the unusual course of disciplinary action which places Balotelli in a state of open conflict with the Premier League champions.
Balotelli will appear before an independent two-man league panel in London on Wednesday to challenge a fine of two weeks' wages – the maximum a club may impose on a misconduct charge – which he was hit with at the end of last season because of his general disciplinary record. The club took the unusual step because they felt that his on-field indiscipline was causing him to miss far too many games, rather than because of any of his off-field antics.
It is rare for a club to issue a fine for an ongoing pattern of yellow and red cards, rather than a specific punishable act. It is thought – though unconfirmed – that the club's Abu Dhabian owners may have been instrumental in pushing for the punishment because of their growing frustration with the disrepute Balotelli was bringing upon the club and the problems Mancini was encountering in getting the message through to him.
Balotelli missed eight Premier League matches through suspension last season, just over 21 per cent of those games. In all competitions, he missed 11 of 54 – 20.37 per cent. The club's concern about his indiscipline reached its peak in last April's defeat at Arsenal, where he was dismissed for two bookable tackles after the referee missed his studs-up tackle on Alex Song, which Mancini admitted he should have been punished for.
Balotelli's indignation about the fine has led him to go through a similar disciplinary process to the one Carlos Tevez embarked upon last season. The 22-year-old appealed against the fine before a two-man independent executive City board, who rejected his protest. Balotelli subsequently took the decision three weeks ago to take the matter to a Premier League tribunal.
Tevez ultimately withdrew his threat to take his own gross misconduct charge – imposed for his refusal to play as a substitute in a Champions League tie at Bayern Munich – to the league. That was after the Professional Footballers' Association prevented City from imposing a four-week fine on the Argentine and backed the striker's argument that he had not refused to play in the game. The PFA did not respond yesterday to inquiries on whether it was supporting Balotelli in his own case against City.
Balotelli's agent Mino Raiola, who told The Independent two months ago that the player wanted to fight to preserve his City career despite his limited starts for the club this season, yesterday said: "I don't have any comments to make. You must call City. Mario is happy in Manchester. I don't have any comments to make. Call City."
Balotelli was left out of the City squad for Saturday's trip to Newcastle and Mancini's staff feel he is not fully fit. Though he trained yesterday, he is by no means guaranteed to make the squad for next Saturday's home fixture with Reading.
City will allow a Northumbria Police investigation into the alleged use of racist language in an altercation between Aleksandar Kolarov and supporters at Newcastle on Saturday to proceed before deciding on any course of action.
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[/spoiler]Former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri wants to be reunited with midfielder Frank Lampard at French second division side Monaco. Lampard, 34, has been told his Blues contract will not be renewed when it expires next summer. DSSC
Marouane Fellaini could replace Lampard at Chelsea, who will bid more than £20m for the 25-year-old midfielder next month. London Evening Standard
Ajax midfielder Christian Eriksen, 20, is good enough to play for Tottenham, according to Spurs centre-back Jan Vertonghen. Daily Telegraph
The agent of Liverpool target Arda Turan has said the 25-year-old winger plans to leave Atletico Madrid at the end of the season. Daily Star
Liverpool could also buy fellow La Liga winger Sofiane Feghouli, 22, from Valencia. Daily Mirror
Former Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka, 33, is in talks to cancel his contract with Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua and wants to join Queens Park Rangers. Daily Telegraph
New York Red Bulls head of global soccer - and former Liverpool and Aston Villa manager - Gerard Houllier claims he has heard nothing from Arsene Wenger about a loan return for striker Thierry Henry, 35, to Arsenal. Sun
Striker Bafetimbi Gomis says he will decide in January whether to sign a new contract with Lyon or leave the French title challengers. The 27-year-old has been linked with Chelsea and Liverpool. skysports.com
Club World Cup champions Corinthians are to make a £12.2m offer for AC Milan's 23-year-old striker Alexandre Pato, who has also been linked with a move to Chelsea. La Gazzetta dello Sport
Honduras midfielder Roger Espinoza, 26, will join Wigan in January after being granted a work permit to work in the UK. The Independent
Newcastle striker Demba Ba, 27, says he is interested in a move to Arsenal in January.
Stoke and Aston Villa are leading a 30-club race to sign Crewe's latest midfield starlet Luke Murphy, 23. Daily Mirror
Newcastle United are in advanced talks to sign France international striker Loic Rémy, 25, from Marseille for £10m and hope to announce the deal at the start of the January window. Daily Telegraph
Juventus have terminated the contract of Brazilian defender Lucio, 34. The former Bayern Munich player is likely to return to the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg. L'Equipe
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is interested in bringing Brazilian defender Dani Alves,29, to the Emirates Stadium from Barcelona. Futbol.as
Brazilian midfielder Juninho, 37, will join New York Red Bulls following the end of his contract at Brazilian club Vasco de Gama. He will be reunited with his former manager at Lyon, Gerard Houllier who is now sporting director at the American club. L'Equipe
Mancini personally sanctioned the £340,000 fine and misconduct charge that Balotelli is fighting at a Premier League tribunal. the Independent
Italy manager Cesare Prandelli has urged Balotelli to start listening to his coaches if he is to make the most of his career. Daily Mirror
Rangers manager Ally McCoist has backed the share issue of Charles Green, the chief executive, by investing more of his own money in the Ibrox club. The Times
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has cancelled the club's Christmas party as a show of respect to supporters due to their poor run of form. Evening Chronicle
Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney, 27, was coaching children in Switzerland on Monday as part of his sentence for getting sent off for England against Montenegro in October 2011. The Sun
