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ROUND-UP
Roll up, roll up for your daily dose of transfer speculation . . .
We begin with claims that City will go toe-to-toe with QPR in the race to sign Valencia starlet Carles Gil – that is, if a report in the Daily Express is to be believed.
The story also mentions another (as yet) unnamed English club that is showing interest in the young Spaniard, who is catching the eye while on loan at La Liga side Elche this season.
Writes Ben Jefferson: “The 20-year-old has impressed both at Elche and with Spain's Under-21s this season and reports in that country suggest that Gil is being closely watched by both City and QPR.
“Gil will remain at Elche into the end of this season completing the second of a two year agreement but his contract with Valencia runs until June 2016.
“However, Gil's release clause currently stands at just £6.7m and that has alerted a host of Spanish clubs as well as City and QPR to the possibility of a bargain.
“Valencia president Amadeo Salvo insists that Gil won't be leaving the Mestalla despite Los Che's financial problems.
“Salvo said: "Carles Gil is ours and next year he will play in our first team.””
That clears that up then….
Elsewhere, with recent reports Leo Messi was unhappy at Barcelona and a move to the Blue side of Manchester could be a possibility, it’s perhaps the least surprising story of the day that the Argentine has issued a swift denial.
The Barcelona star is currently facing a spell on the sidelines with an injury, and the international break has served as the perfect time for paper talk to stir up speculation about his future.
Hannah Duncan explains in the Metro: “The rumours suggested Messi was unhappy with the pressure of being forced to play through injuries at the Nou Camp, resulting in him suffering with a string of muscular issues this season and most recently being ruled out for two months with a hamstring problem.
“But Messi denied reports he has been pushed to the limit, indicating any move to Manchester City or the Premier League is not on the cards.
“‘It’s not good to pick up an injury, but I wouldn’t have done anything differently,’ he said.
“‘I’m not the only player who plays a lot of games in a season. Everyone playing in La Liga does the same.’”
Finally, with City’s strikers hitting the headlines for all the right reasons, and competition for places hotting up, reports have emerged that John Guidetti could look for regular first team football elsewhere.
The EDS striker is still making his comeback from injury and was an unused sub for Sweden u21s on Friday afternoon, although will hope to play a part in today’s fixture against Malta.
Stoke and Sunderland have been named as interested parties for his signature, together with clubs across the continent - according to the Daily Star.
David Wright reports: “The 21-year-old has been sent out on loan three times since arriving at the Sky Blues and especially impressed in his latest stint at Feyenoord in the 2011/12 season where he scored 20 goals for the Dutch outfit.
“Guidetti's future in the Premier League looked promising after his stint in Holland, but he has since spent 18 months on the sidelines and remains uncapped for City's first team.
“A host of European clubs are said to be interested in the hot prospect, with the Potters and Black Cats set to take advantage of his need of first-team football.”
Agüero at double as Argentina overpower Bosnians
Argentina 2-0 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Manchester City FC's Sergio Agüero scored twice in St Louis as Safet Sušić's side struggled to cope with Argentina's wealth of attacking talent.
Manchester City FC's Sergio Agüero scored twice as Argentina beat fellow 2014 FIFA World Cup finalists Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 in St Louis, United States.
Agüero, wearing the No10 shirt in absence of injured captain Lionel Messi, broke the deadlock five minutes before half-time. He doubled the advantage midway through the second half and could have had a hat-trick but blasted the ball over the bar on 75 minutes after goalkeeper Asmir Begović had parried a shot from Rodrigo Palacio.
Substitute Erik Lamela also had two good opportunities in the dying minutes and the scoreline could have been more one-sided, but Bosnia and Herzegovina, too, had chances. Safet Sušić's team, for who FC Schalke 04's Sead Kolasinac made his debut, might have taken an early lead as Vedad Ibišević and Edin Džeko went close.
Yet an estimated 30,000 Bosnian fans would be disappointed in Missouri as Argentina took control. Ángel Di María was pulling the strings and it was his headed pass into the box that led to the first goal on 40 minutes. Begović managed to deny the onrushing Palacio but Agüero was on hand to steer the ball between two defenders and into the net.
The Bosnians rallied, with Edin Višća and Ibišević having sighters, before Agüero struck again as he applied a left-footed volley to Maxi Rodríguez's fine through ball from deep. It could have got worse though Džeko almost pulled one back after escaping his marker but his stinging shot was beaten away.
Guidetti hints at City exit
John Guidetti has revealed that he could look to depart Manchester City in the January transfer window for some first-team football.
The 21-year-old Sweden international has been at the Etihad Stadium since being signed up as a youngster in 2008 but he has yet to play for the first team over the years.
Guidetti enjoyed a successful loan spell at Dutch side Feyenoord in 2011-12, where he scored 20 goals in 23 games, before being ruled out of last term because of illness and injuries.
However, he is now fit and raring to play some first-team football but his path to the City side is being blocked by Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo, Steven Jovetic and Edin Dzeko.
As a result, Guidetti has said that he will look to secure a move away from City in January so he can get some regular action under his belt.
"I want to play football," he told TV 4. "If it's with Manchester City or somewhere else I do not know, but right now I train, train, train. From January onwards then I'll show what I can do."
German giants join Arsenal in race to sign Man City ace
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger may have to make some quick moves if he wishes to see Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko plying his trade at the Emirates this winter. According to reports in The Daily Star, Bundesliga heavyweights Borussia Dortmund have entered the race for the Bosnian’s signature, which may make it difficult for the Gunners to bag him this January.
Dzeko has been linked with a winter move to Arsenal, following reports of his unsettlement at the Etihad Stadium. The north Londoners are in desperate need of offensive reinforcements and it is believed that Wenger views the 27 year old to be the perfect addition to his attacking third.
However, the Gunners face competition from Signal Iduna Park now, with Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp also keen to land him to replace striker Robert Lewandowski, who is almost certain to bid adieu to the club for free next summer. It is also believed that Die Schwarz Gelben are offering to offload the Pole for a fee of around £7m in January, to salvage something out of his move, and the Citizens may make the situation work in their favour by proposing a swap between the two players.
Man City Set for Galatasaray Raid as Roberto Mancini Targets Duo
Mancini will look to land wide-man Aleksandar Kolarov and veteran midfielder Gareth Barry.
Manuel Pellegrini may well be open to allowing Kolarov to leave as he is apparently not convinced by the efforts displayed by both Serbian and French left-back Gael Clichy and the Man City boss could be tempted by offers of around £5m.
A move for England veteran Barry would cost Mancini nothing as the 32 year old is out of contract in the summer and is currently impressing during a season long loan spell at Everton.
A Man City insider is quoted as saying:
“Aleks is settled here but he is in and out of the side, just as he was under Roberto.
“If Aleks has his way he will stay here and battle for a regular place in the team, but the new manager is still shaping his squad and an offer from Galatasaray or one of the Italian clubs who have been watching him could make a move happen.
“He had a good working relationship with Roberto, as did Gareth who was pretty much the first name on the teamsheet back then. Gareth is keeping an open mind with regards to his future, but it almost certainly won’t be at City.”
Barcelona, Man City and Chelsea all keen on PSG ace
Barcelona have joined Manchester City and Chelsea in the hunt to land Paris Saint-Germain ace Blaise Matuidi.
The highly-rated 26-year-old is out of contract next summer and is yet to agree a new deal with the French club.
Matuidi, formerly of Saint-Etienne, played an integral role as PSG romped to the Ligue 1 title last term and he has featured prominently again this season.
But Europe’s biggest clubs are keen to lure him away from the French capital, with sources in Spain claiming Barcelona have identified him as the man to add steel to their midfield.
Jose Mourinho still needs to add a defensive midfielder to his squad at Stamford Bridge and Matuidi is among his targets.
However, the Special One will have to act fast to secure the France international’s signature, as Premier League rivals City are also monitoring his situation.
Vieira regrets not signing "extraordinary" Pogba for City
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba could have left the club for a much closer home than Juventus if Patrick Vieira had his way.
Manchester City have been linked with former Red Paul Pogba - but they could have had him already.
The French midfielder left Manchester United in the summer of 2012 to join Juventus and impressed as the Turin club took the Serie A title last season.
His performances have kept Europe's best clubs on alert but City's EDS manager Patrick Vieira says they could have already had him.
In an interview with French newspaper L'Equipe, the former Arsenal and City player said: "He's a player I really like.
"I saw him play for Manchester United and to not have signed him when he left that club was a mistake because he is an extraordinary player.
"Many tell me that [he plays like I do]. I think he is more attacking than me and perhaps more technically skilled."
Pogba has been in good form for Juventus this season, scoring five goals so far
Jan Vertonghen: 'Manchester City are best team in Premier League'
Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen has described Manchester City as the best team in the Premier League.
Spurs visit the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, looking to bounce back from their shock 1-0 home loss to Newcastle United earlier this month.
The North London club currently sit one place above City in the table, but Vertonghen believes that the bookmakers are right to make Manuel Pellegrini's men the favourites to win the title.
"It's really crazy," Vertonghen told Sky Sports News. "I think if we'd won against Newcastle, we'd be joint second now - but we're seventh.
"It's unbelievable how we play City and United next. It's very hard this year. Vincent Kompany already said it will be the toughest league in years to finish top. We have to be at our best to finish in the top four."
Vertonghen added: "City I think is the best team in the league. Arsenal are doing very well of course. But especially in home games, City is the team to beat."
City have won each of their last three home games against Spurs by a margin of one goal.
Man City & Social Media: Management, Moderation & Innovation
Posted on19 November 2013. Tags: digital sport, facebook, Football, social media, technology, twitter
Last month I had the opportunity to see, via a livestream rather than in person, a very interesting event put on by the BBC on ‘Sport, Social Media and ROI with Audiences’. It was part of their #SocialMediaWhatsTrending series and brought together a top line up of speakers.
The panel session was led by the BBC’s Ben Gallop (BBC Sport, Head of Interactive) and included another BBC employee, the Football Focus presenter Dan Walker, the EMEA VP of Never.no, Scott Davies and Manchester City’s Social Media Exec, Chris Nield.
For the purpose of this article I wanted to concentrate on the contribution to the session made by Chris and the presentation element he made during it. He ran through some of what he has been doing at the club since joining in 2009, which for a football club shows how early they were onto the social media scene, and their plans for the future (very topline).
We’ve known Chris since 2010 and an interview we did with him was one of the first articles ever published on the site (there are over 500 now!). Together with firstly Richard Ayers, and now Russell Stopford, he has helped push the club to the forefront of the digital sport industry.
In the presentation below you can see where social media sits within the club. Some of the main points include;
◦His role with players in verifying accounts and dealing with fake ones
◦Setting the clubs tone as being friendly and authentic
◦How they have recently launched 10 new language specific accounts (only English before)
◦And showed their Harlem Shake, which included all the first team players and has been viewed some 8.7m times!
The future for social media in the club is an interesting one. Just as we approach the time of year where we look ahead to 2014 (quick event plug for 9th Dec), the club are also looking at what’s next for them. Areas such as; stadium wifi (hot topic at the moment), expanding onto new networks, mobile integration, website integration with Facebook Connect and more targeted posts to fans are all in the pipeline.
It’s an exciting time for the club on and off the pitch, but the competition for fans time and attention is getting hotter. All clubs are involved at some level and with greater emphasis on ROI and social media fatigue. This means new challenges will arise that will also bring about new innovations. I’m sure Man City will be continue to lead on many of them.
As well as the presentation on its own, you can hear Chris present it in the video below. If you skip onto around 22min 30sec you will hear Chris taking you through these points (volume level is not great so may need to listen closely).
The overall panel session is just under 1 hour in length and offers some interesting insights from people with very different perspectives; the TV presenter who is looking at new ways to engage with fans during programmes and building his own profile at the same time, the technology expert who works within the live TV/social media space and sees what they are doing as just the start, and the football club social media exec who is always looking for new ways to engage with fans and build the brand.
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[/spoiler]Fan 'completes' 1996 Premier League sticker album
A man who was missing six stickers from a 1990s football album has tracked down the players in question so he could complete his collection.
Adam Carroll-Smith, a Portsmouth fan who lives in the city, found the 1996 Merlin Premier League album in his attic.
It took him six months to trace the missing players, visit them and take their photos for his album.
Mr Carroll- Smith said: "They were all fantastic, really accommodating guys."
He described how he always thought he had completed the 1996 album but had a "gut punch" when he opened it 16 years later to discover six spaces remained.
Adam Carroll-Smith eventually threw the album into the sea
He immediately decided "a great wrong had to be righted" and started an internet search for former Southampton and Blackburn winger Stuart Ripley.
Now a solicitor, Ripley invited Mr Carroll-Smith to Manchester to take his picture.
Finding the two foreign stars he was missing in his album proved more problematic.
After two cross-channel trips, Mr Carroll-Smith found Newcastle United's Philippe Albert was working in the fruit and vegetable trade in his native Belgium.
Blackburn's Norwegian midfielder Lars Bohinen, meanwhile, was taking part in a Scandinavian version of Strictly Come Dancing.
The rest of the six players were tracked down through internet searching, social media conversations and word-of-mouth contacts through networks of football fans.
'More innocent era'
For the lifelong Pompey fan, the album represented a "really interesting period" in the game.
"International stars like Dennis Bergkamp were just coming in but most Premier League players were still English," Mr Carroll-Smith said.
"It was on the cusp of the big money wages. Most players from that more innocent era were on good money, but many still had to have jobs after their football careers and are rooted in the real world.
The missing stickers
Gary Penrice - QPR
Lars Bohinen - Blackburn Rovers
Keith Curle - Manchester City
Philippe Albert - Newcastle
Scott Minto - Chelsea
Stuart Ripley - Blackburn Rovers
"No matter how modern the game gets, football stickers will always have a nostalgic quality."
But despite his efforts to track down the players and complete the album, Mr Carroll-Smith then made a surprising decision.
Instead of keeping the album he decided to throw it in the Solent at Southsea.
"It was a cathartic experience," said Mr Carroll-Smith, who has written a book about the experience.
"My wife and I have just had our first child, so this was a symbolic way of showing I'd grown up.
"The sticker album was then and this is now."
ENGLAND V GERMANY BOLLOX
Germany boss Joachim Low has dismissed suggestions his decision to rest several key players for Tuesday's friendly against England is in any way disrespectful and the 53-year-old was generous of his praise for his opposite number Roy Hodgson. Daily Telegraph
Tottenham midfielder Andros Townsend, 22, has been marked out by Germany as England's danger man ahead of the friendly, with Low describing England's wide players as "very impressive". Sun
But former Germany and Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann has mocked the way Townsend has emerged from relative obscurity to become England's new "saviour". Daily Express
England boss Roy Hodgson, 66, has said learning abut his players is more important than beating Germany. Daily Mirror
England captain Steven Gerrard is hoping a series of special back injections will extend his career for at least two seasons after crediting the procedure for his return to top form. Daily Telegraph
Barcelona are considering a surprise January bid for Fulham striker Dimitar Berbatov. The Spanish champions want the ex-Manchester United man, 32, to provide experienced cover for the injured Lionel Messi. Daily Express
Newcastle must fight off six other top-flight clubs to land Manchester United's Wilfried Zaha, 21, on loan. Sun
Belgium forward Eden Hazard has told Chelsea team-mate and compatriot Kevin De Bruyne, 22, to quit Stamford Bridge to save his World Cup dream. Daily Star
Galatasaray boss Roberto Mancini is thought to have dropped his interest in Chelsea captain John Terry after learning the 32-year-old has no intention of leaving Stamford Bridge in January. Metro
Arsenal are closely monitoring Croatian starlet Alen Halilovic, 17, after Tottenham were unable to seal a deal for the Dinamo Zagreb attacking midfielder. Daily Express
Fulham are interested in signing Brazilian midfielder Anderson, 25, on loan from Manchester United when the January transfer window opens. Manchester Evening News
Liverpool believe they have won the race for Derby County midfielder Will Hughes. It is thought the Championship club would allow the England Under-21 international, 18, to leave Pride Park for about £12m. Metro
Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool are interested in Torino winger Alessio Cerci. The Italy international, 26, has scored eight goals in 12 Serie A games this season. TalkSHIT
Liverpool owner John W Henry is sending his own private jet to Montevideo in order to ensure Uruguay international Luis Suarez returns to Merseyside in peak condition for Saturday's derby against Everton. Daily Mirror
England midfielder Michael Carrick, 32, has agreed a two-and-a-half-year contract extension at Manchester United as he looks to end his career at Old Trafford. DSSC
Former Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday defender Dan Petrescu is keen to be named as Crystal Palace's new manager. The Romanian, 45, impressed the Premier League club's hierarchy during talks in Russia, where he currently manages Dinamo Moscow. London Evening Standard
However, Petrescu's appointment is far from complete as the two parties are yet to agree on the terms of the deal. Daily Mirror
Chelsea midfielder Oscar, 22, says he almost signed for Real Madrid - then managed by current Blues boss Jose Mourinho - in 2012 before moving to Stamford Bridge. Daily Star
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas fears midfielder Christian Eriksen will miss three months with an ankle injury sustained on international duty with Denmark. DSSC
Germany's players and staff surprised London Underground travellers by taking the Tube to their Wembley training session for Tuesday's international match against England. Metro
