City On Brink Of £32million Deal For Premiership Trio

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Manchester City are reportedly on the verge of luring Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz along with West Ham United pair Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker to the Eastlands Stadium for a combined fee of £32million, according to The Sun.

City have been heavily linked with all three players in recent weeks, with manager Mark Hughes keen to bolster the squad at City after an indifferent start to the Premier League season, which has seen the Citizens falter in the last couple of months after a bright start to the Premiership campaign.

27-year-old Santa Cruz is understood to be on the brink of a move away from Rovers to City, with the Paraguayan International keen on a reunion with Hughes, who brought him to the Premier League last season from Bayern Munich, while in charge at Ewood Park. A fee in the region of £15million is being mooted for the striker that cost Blackburn just £3.5million in 2007.

Hammers pair Bellamy and Parker are also said to be open to a move away from Upton Park to Man City, with it believed that the pair will move North for a combined fee of £17million. With West Ham already conceding that they are ready to listen to offers for any of their players at the East London club.

The Sun claims that the trio will all complete moves to City by the end of next week as Hughes looks to add quality to the squad at the Eastlands, having already agreed a fee of £12million for left-back Wayne Bridge from Chelsea.

However, City are not likely to finish their spending in January should the three join the North West club, with Arsenal defender Kolo Toure at Arsenal also reportedly a target for Hughes along with another West Ham Player, England International Matthew Upson and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given at Newcastle United.

Allardyce Bracing Himself For Man City Santa Cruz Bid

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New Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce has conceded that Rovers are bracing themselves for an offer from Premier League rivals Manchester City for striker Roque Santa Cruz now that the transfer window is open again.

City boss Mark Hughes is keen on a reunion with 27-year-old Santa Cruz, who he signed from Bayern Munich last season while in charge at Ewood Park. The Paraguayan International was a huge success for Blackburn last season, scoring 19 goals in his debut Premiership campaign.

Santa Cruz has expressed his desire to leave Blackburn, with the Eastlands Stadium the most likely destination for the striker. However, despite bids being expected for the Paraguayan, Allardyce has revealed that a concrete offer for Santa Cruz has yet to be made.

“I certainly did not speak to Sparky about him after Sunday’s game. I spoke to the chairman and no one has contacted him about it, he tells me,” Allardyce told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

“As far as we are concerned, there appears to be an interest from Manchester City, but there is there is no actual confirmed bid from them.

“We just continue trying to get him fit as quickly as possible and playing for us.

“It is reasonable to think we would expect to hear from them because Mark Hughes brought him to the club in the first place and he had a very good season and, if he is struggling for a striker, he is bound to be interested.

“But that interest can only be at the right price for Blackburn Rovers if we considered we wanted to sell him.

“At the moment, we have had nothing to consider anyway, so it is not an issue as far as we are concerned.”

Allardyce has also claimed that there will be other clubs apart from Man City interested in Santa Cruz, who is injured with a calf problem, but insisted that his priority is to get the forward fit and playing for Blackburn again.

“He wants to leave. He has said it, hasn’t he? But at the end of the day what he has said is okay, but he has signed a new contract in good faith only two months ago,” he added.

“I have only been here seven or eight days and he has only trained a little bit with us before he pulled his calf muscle, so he has not hung around to see if he likes me or not - he has just said he wants to leave.

“At the moment, it is in their hands to make their first approach. It will be speculated about until January is finished.

“I would probably think that if we considered Santa Cruz might be available then there would be a lot more clubs wanting to buy him than Manchester City.

“At the moment, we are resisting that and just trying to get him fit to play for us and see where we go from there. Gaining fitness is the most important thing as far as we are concerned.”

Man City May Be Rich Now, But Will They Just Chuck Money Around In January?

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The New Voice Of Football column at FootballFancast.com

Manchester City broke the British transfer record on transfer deadline-day to sign Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.5million after the takeover at the Eastlands Stadium by the ADUG on the same day. Since then the media have come to the conclusion that the wealthy Arab owner’s will be prepared to chuck as much money around as is needed to land any player they fancy.

I for one do not think this will be the case. Wealthy? Yes. Stupid? No. While, City are in the position to outbid anyone for a player they want, they simply won’t pay massively over the odds just in order to get their man.

Take the case of Robinho (left), Chelsea wanted him and offered £30million, so City steal in and do a deal at £2.5million more, Real take that deal and so Robinho ends up in Manchester, despite the Brazilian revealing recently that Stamford Bridge was where he wanted to play.

So now look at the list of potential targets for the Premier League side in January, which include David Villa, Kaka, Gianluigi Buffon, Esteban Cambiasso, Fernando Torres and Roque Santa Cruz.

Now the name on that list that has cropped up most recently, with a World Record price tag attached is Valencia striker Villa, but how did anyone arrive at the figure of £60million? Valencia, are in dire straits financially and surely if City are to pay £60million. Then another club has to be willing to pay £55million, but I have not heard anything to that affect. So why would the City owner’s launch in at £60million?

Take what will probably be a much cheaper option in Mark Hughes former player Roque Santa Cruz at Blackburn Rovers, if offers are coming in for him at around £15million. Would it not make sense to just gazump them by a little in the same way City did with Robinho and Chelsea?

The only possible exception on that list is AC Milan playmaker Kaka, who if the Rossoneri decide to sell then a bidding war will ensue, starting at a pretty big fee and ending up anywhere. However, City will again only have to go that extra yard if they really want to recruit the soon to be former FIFA World Player of the Year to the Eastlands.

Yes, Man City will certainly be making a few big-money signings in January, but I can’t see them offering £10-20million more for a player just to get their man. You see my experience of rich people is they didn’t become rich by throwing it away when they simply didn’t have to.