City To Offer £19million Misfit To Land Taiwo?

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Manchester City are set to continue their pursuit of Olympique Marseille defender Taye Taiwo, with the Premier League club ready to offer £19million flop Jo as part of the deal to land the Nigerian International, according to The Sun.



City are believed to have already failed with a £14million offer for Taiwo, but manager Mark Hughes is now ready to include Brazilian International striker Jo in part exchange for the versatile left-sided player as the former Blackburn Rovers boss looks to strengthen the squad at the Eastlands Stadium.

Jo, who was a club record signing before the arrival of Robinho at the Premiership club has failed to impress Hughes since his big-money move from CSKA Moscow, with the Brazilian only finding the net three times in thirteen appearances for the Blues since his move to England. Two of those goals coming against, European minnows Omonia in the UEFA Cup and now looks set to be shown the door by the Blues after just six-months at the club.

Should Taiwo arrive City, Jo’s compatriot Elano’s place could also be under threat, with 23-year-old Taiwo playing on the left and £12million signing from Chelsea, Wayne Bridge likely to occupy the defensive berth. Taiwo is also said to be a free-kick specialist and has been linked with Portsmouth and Sunderland in the past.

Taiwo has been at Marseille since joining from Lobi Stars in 2004 and has made 118 Ligue 1 appearances during his time at the Stade Velodrome, with Taiwo also scoring seven times in his 26 caps for Nigeria.

Man City v Everton Premier League Preview: Have The Toffees Got The Firepower To Inflict More Woe On City?

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Manchester City, play David Moyes’ Everton in the Premier League at the Eastlands Stadium on Saturday.

Manchester City despite their riches find themselves just 3 points off the drop-zone and go into this clash with Everton on the back of a dismal run of form, which has seen the Blues win just once in the last 7 Premiership matches and slide down the Premier League table. City have yet to draw a match at the Eastlands this season, winning 4 and losing 4 of 8 games at home so far, with their last win the 3-0 defeat of Arsenal at the Eastlands. Something manager Mark Hughes will hope to rectify against Everton on Saturday.

The Toffees have been superb on their travels away from Goodison Park this season, with Everton only losing twice, while winning five and drawing the other of their 8 away games. It is Everton’s home form that will worry Moyes, with the Merseyside club only managing to win once at home so far this season, but for their poor form at Goodison, where they lost 3-2 to Aston Villa last week, Everton could have found themselves higher in the table than the 8th place they occupy now.

Hughes expects to have British record signing Robinho available for the clash with Everton, with the Brazilian expected to recover from a sprained ankle, but the visit of the Toffees could come to soon for compatriot Elano (groin) and Gelson Fernandes, who is still struggling with a hamstring injury. Michael Johnson (groin) Martin Petrov (knee) and Valeri Bojinov (calf), will all miss the clash with Moyes’ side.

Everton have a striker crisis at Goodison Park, with Yakubu (calf), and James Vaughan (knee) both ruled out. Summer signing Louis Saha is still struggling with a hamstring injury, but Moyes could be tempted to name him on the bench due to the lack of strikers available to the Toffees. Defenders Tony Hibbert (groin), Lars Jacobson (shoulder) and Nuno Valente (knee), will all miss the trip to City.

Manchester City: (from) Hart, Dunne, Richards, Garrido, Ball, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Robinho, Jo, Vassell, Schmeichel, Mills, Caceido, Hamann, Evans, Castillo, Ben Haim, Benjani, Sturridge, Etuhu, Logan, Kompany, Glauber

Everton: (from) Howard, Lescott, Jagielka, Yobo, Baines, Van der Meyde, Castillo, Saha, Arteta, Turner, Cahill, Neville, Pienaar, Osman, Nash, Fellaini, Rodwell, Jutkiewicz, Anichebe, Ruddy, Gosling, Kissock, Baxter, Irving, Agard, Wallace

Everton Look To Pancrate To Ease Striker Crisis

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Everton manager David Moyes has been linked with a move for Paris St Germain striker Fabrice Pancrate in the January transfer window, with the Toffees boss desperately in need of some more firepower upfront at Goodison Park due to injuries.

The Merseyside club face Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday at Goodison, but Moyes only has one fit striker in Victor Anichebe available, with Yakubu and James Vaughan both out with long-term injuries and summer signing Louis Saha suffering from persistent hamstring problems.



28-year-old Pancrate had been a summer target for Premiership debutantes Hull City and could leave PSG on loan in January or for a modest fee of around £1million due to his present deal at the Parc des Princes running out at the end of the season.

Pancrate has been at PSG since joining from Ligue 1 rivals Le Mans in 2004 and has made 68 league appearances for the French side. However, Pancrate is not what you would call a natural goalscorer and has only scored 9 goals in the French top-flight for PSG since he left Le Mans, with the striker spending a short loan spell at La Liga side Real Betis in 2007.

Moyes is also reportedly interested in Manchester City summer signing Jo, who has struggled to make an impact at the Eastlands Stadium since his move from CSKA Moscow. However, it is understood that while City manager Mark Hughes may let the Brazilian International go out on loan. Hughes would be reluctant to loan Jo to another Premier League club.

Man City v Spurs Premiership Preview: Will The Redknapp Factor Tip The Balance At The Eastlands?

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Mark Hughes’ Manchester City play, Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League at the Eastlands Stadium on Sunday.

City under Hughes and the ADUG are still like City under Eriksson and Shinawatra, with the Eastlands faithful unsure of which side of the Blues they will see on any given day. With Man City going into this clash with a galvanised Tottenham on the back of two successive league defeats to Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United 2-0, but winning in the UEFA Cup on Thursday. Hughes’ side have looked capable of beating anyone on their day and the new boss will eventually get the balance right in the Blue half of Manchester.

Since the arrival of Harry Redknapp as manager at White Hart Lane from Southampton, Spurs are unbeaten, with the North London club beating Bolton Wanderers and Liverpool and drawing with Arsenal in the Premier League. With Tottenham looking like a completely different side to the team which collected 2 points from their first 8 games in the Premiership under Juande Ramos. Spurs like City also go into this clash on the back of a win in Europe, with Tottenham drubbing Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 in the UEFA Cup on Thursday. However, the North London club still find themselves at the bottom of the table, but under the leadership of Redknapp are not expected to stay there for long.

Hughes is unable to call on Martin Petrov (knee), Michael Johnson (groin) or long-term absentee Valeri Bojinov (calf), but strikers Darius Vassell and Benjani are in contention, with Benjani scoring on his comeback on Thursday in the UEFA Cup.

Redknapp will have to decide whether to put Russian International Roman Pavlyuchenko back in the Spurs starting eleven, who was cup-tied for the match with Zagreb. With Darren Bent finally finding his goal-scoring touch for Tottenham this season after his hat-trick against Zagreb took his tally to nine in all competitions this campaign.

Captain Ledley King should start along with Vedran Corluka, who like Pavlyuchenko was cup-tied in Europe and is set to face his former club. Midfielder Jermaine Jenas could shake off an ankle injury in time, while Gilberto is also a doubt for the trip to the Eastlands. Giovanni is definitely out after picking up an ankle injury on Monday, but Michael Dawson is available again after suspension.

Manchester City: (from) Hart, Dunne, Richards, Zabaleta, Garrido, Hamann, Kompany, Ireland, Elano, Jo, Robinho, Wright-Phillips, Ball, Schmeichel, Mills, Fernandes, Calcedo, Evans, Castillo, Ben Haim, Etuhu, Sturridge, Logan, Glauber, Benjani, Vassell

Tottenham Hotspur: (from) Gomes, Bale, Gunter, Woodgate, Corluka, King, Hutton, Assou-Ekotto, Jenas, Zokora, Huddlestone, Bentley, Modric, Pavlyuchenko, Cesar, Bent, Campbell, Taarabt, Stalteri, Ghaly, Rocha, Lennon, Prince-Boateng, O’Hara, Dawson