FLAMINI TO CITY - SKY SPORTS BREAKING NEWS!!

[The Man In Blue]

apparently harry wanted him

triffic player, lahve im at spuds, course.

[ant london]

i have been on newsnow skysports and everywhere.. no sign of it.. is it still on SSN... is it for defo..

It'll take a wee while to get onto the net mate, always does.

In terms of the move for Flamini it is a tremendous move if it comes off. Fantastically talented player who Arsenal I think will have dearly wished they hadn't lost. Fabregas is amazing but Flamini was the foil for him. If Flamini had stayed I don't think Arsenal would have gone through the subsequent barren patch they have experienced,

Have you seen much of him Ant? I know he was a Great player for Arsenal but since he's moved to A.C i havn't seen anything of him.

I saw a lot of him at Arsenal as I used to get to see maybe 10 matches or so a season at Highbury/the Emirates with my gf. I've seen a bit of him at Milan but IMO he brings something new to the side.

He is perfect for the role that Hughes was trying to use Stephen Ireland for earlier in the season. Deeper lying midfielder. Not a Nigel de Jong role, for two reasons, he is much better going forward with the ball and in his offensive use of the ball. He's still no Fabregas but for me he would allow us to hugely increase our midfield solidity but also dynamism being used alongside De Jong or being used instead of De Jong alongside Barry (allowing Gareth more freedom).

If we used him on the right hand side of a diamond (De Jong/Vieira anchoring), Barry on the left and Stephen Ireland/SWP/Tevez/Robinho/Bellamy at the tip then I think we could have quite a different midfield option.

Alternatively he can fill in at right back and he is miles better on the ball than Zabaleta or Micah. And he can really tackle

Just found this....it's youtube but it's not a selective goals comp. I think this shows what he brings in terms of disruption and redistribution. I would say he has a very very good football brain. (quite amusing to see who some of the "owned" players on here are too)

[youtube]siI_4IYBink[/youtube]

[MHiggi]

In terms of the move for Flamini it is a tremendous move if it comes off. Fantastically talented player who Arsenal I think will have dearly wished they hadn't lost. Fabregas is amazing but Flamini was the foil for him. If Flamini had stayed I don't think Arsenal would have gone through the subsequent barren patch they have experienced,

Have you seen much of him Ant? I know he was a Great player for Arsenal but since he's moved to A.C i havn't seen anything of him.

The only time I've seen him since he left was in the last Thomas Cook trophy when we beat Milan.

Ant's right, the Flamini-Fabregas partnership was just flourishing and Flamini was the understated and underrated part of that. And that's what we're still trying to do - find the right on-field partnerships. The troubles at CB are well documented, but we still need to figure out which players fit together in central midfield, also the LB/LW and RB/RW pairings are important, and a strike partnership as well.

I'm not sure quite where he'll fit into the side but he could be a terrific addition to the squad, especially if we can use his versatility at fullback if needed (he played quite a bit of one Arsenal season at left-back before he moved into the middle with Cesc).

[edge275]

I'm surprised the kopites haven't enquired about him.

[Beefymcfc]

Is this a 'Sky Sports understands' moment or a confirmed target/signing?

[Alex Sapphire]

let's get ahead of ourselves...
the arse used to chant his name to the Sweeney theme tune

[youtube]D99O6oTJVHo[/youtube]

[Craig B]

How many ex-Arsenal players can we sign?

[ant london]

How many ex-Arsenal players can we sign?

if we added another this window in Thierry Henry well...I really wouldn't mind

[Chinners]

Is this a 'Sky Sports understands' moment or a confirmed target/signing?

Only SSN reporting this at the mo so it's probably b*ll*x

[Wonderwall]

Is this a 'Sky Sports understands' moment or a confirmed target/signing?

Only SSN reporting this at the mo so it's probably b*ll*x

its all about the sauce at the moment

[Craig B]

Well the story seems to have vanished from SSN now so perhaps it was one of their 'jumping the gun' moments!

[Beefymcfc]

Is this a 'Sky Sports understands' moment or a confirmed target/signing?

Only SSN reporting this at the mo so it's probably b*ll*x

its all about the sauce at the moment

Is it brown and runny!

[CityFanFromRome]

If true, it would be a great addition to our midfield.

[ruralblue]

Chuffed if this is going to be confirmed.

Stop gap till the end of the season, makes me thinks the players Mancini may be after might not be willing to come till the Summer.

Can't he fill in left back too?

[Alex Sapphire]

Great player so a very good signing but where does he fit in? Has Mancio decided Kompany is a CB, end of?
That would leave Ireland, De Jong, Vieira, Barry, Flamini competing for 2 center midfield spots is it. Not bad hey!!

Mancini has been quoted as saying "you can't play the same players all the time". Do we have a tinkerman on our hands. If so I wish him well

[ant london]

Chuffed if this is going to be confirmed.

Stop gap till the end of the season, makes me thinks the players Mancini may be after might not be willing to come till the Summer.

Can't he fill in left back too?

Mate I can only see this being a loan with option to buy if the loan part is true. The loan part makes sense as it's a World Cup year and if he isn't getting enough game time (or, enough game time in the role he wants/needs to play for France) then moving to City is a smart move for him.

Ergo, for City, if we can do a loan deal with an option to buy we protect ourselves from the downside risk of it maybe not working and also ensure that we can make this permanent if he settles well

[Blue Blood]

Everton brought something home to Bobby Manc. We need more quality in the midfield. As we all know it went totally missing on saturday.

Flamini is a superb player, in the last season he played in this league he ran more miles on the pitch than any other player and bagged a bunch of goals and assists. He is the midfield general we have lacked this season at times.

Great move by Bobby Manc and these clever little 6 month loan deals with options to buy are brilliant.

[blootoof]

Has Hughes fucked off with our credit cards?

[Wonderwall]

completely disappeared of the SSN radar now, its not even in their transfer talk section.

[ant london]

no it hasn't

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 49,00.html?

Sky Sports News understands AC Milan's Mathieu Flamini is set to move to Manchester City in a loan deal until the end of the season.

Roberto Mancini is to raid Italy for a second time since taking over at Eastlands, with an approach for Flamini at the top of his agenda.

Flamini usually operates as a defensive central midfielder, a position City have plenty of cover for having brought in Patrick Vieira from Inter Milan earlier this month.

It is, though, at right-back that Flamini has played his best football at Milan having been switched there in the second half of last season due to a spate of injuries at the San Siro.

Flamini has fallen down the pecking order at Milan this term under Leonardo and moves to England in a bid for more regular football.

He should have little trouble adapting to the Premier League having enjoyed a four-year stint at Arsenal from 2004-2008.

Flamini made over 100 appearances under Arsene Wenger and in his final season at the Emirates, prior to his move to Milan, established himself as a key player.