Israeli squaddie Nir Biton a £2m target for Manchester City

 

City boss Roberto Mancini is considering a swoop for Nir Biton

Manchester City are weighing up a £2m move for Israeli midfielder Nir Biton.

The Blues had the 20-year-old FC Ashdod star on trial last week and he impressed Roberto Mancini and his coaching staff with his elegant style.

The 6ft 4in international still has 10 months of army service to run in Israel – he serves it alongside his playing career – but he is expected to be excused if City come up with a concrete offer.

Biton has been the main reason that unfashionable Ashdod have surged to second place in the Israeli league this season, and he has now been capped twice by his country.

He is also wanted by several Bundesliga clubs but would prefer a move to City. His agent Dudu Dahan said Mancini has already indicated he wants the youngster,
saying: “After the last training session I discussed with Mancini and he was happy to tell me that they would like to sign Nir.

“We have some other clubs who want him but Man City is our main priority because we got great respect over there.

“I believe that the clubs have started negotiations and I will start to talk to the army about his release.”

Inter serious about Tevez deal

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Carlos Tevez is no longer a favourite of Manchester City fans

Inter Milan have reiterated their desire to bring Carlos Tevez to the club from Manchester City, but the Serie A side are far from optimistic about landing the striker.
Tevez seems certain to leave City this January following a major fall-out with club officials. Inter's city rivals AC were believed to be in pole position to land the Argentina international, having already entered into negotiations with the player and his agent, but Inter are firmly in the race.
Reports suggest City prefer the deal on the table from Inter, although the player is leaning towards AC, and club president Massimo Moratti is still working on the transfer.
"We don't do anything just for fun; if we do something it's because we think it could be a good deal," Moratti told the club's official website. "It all seems normal to me: we were interested in finding out how things stood, if there was any room for manoeuvre.
"We'll see if we're successful, if we can bring him here or not."
Asked if he was optimistic about securing Tevez's signature, Moratti said: "It's not a question of being optimistic or not, just waiting to see what happens.
"There are three weeks left. There's plenty of time."

Roberto Mancini points finger at Wayne Rooney over Vincent Kompany red card

 

Players remonstrate with referee Chris Foy

Roberto Mancini accused Wayne Rooney of getting Vincent Kompany sent off in an explosive Manchester derby.

The Blues boss said that the United striker harangued referee Chris Foy after his captain’s challenge on Nani which left City down to ten men for 80 minutes of the match.

“It was not a red card,” said an incredulous Mancini afterwards. “Rooney told him his decision. He was near the referee.”

Asked if he meant that Rooney had influenced Foy’s decision, the City boss said: “Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don’t want to talk about the referee.”

Mancini said City intend to appeal the red card with the hearing to be held tomorrow.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson felt it was a red card offence, but Mancini agreed to disagree: “Maybe I’ve made a mistake but it’s impossible (the red card). Everyone has an opinion.

“I respect his (Fergie’s) opinion but I don’t want to talk about the referee because I want to stay on the bench for the next match.

“It was happening with Ferdinand, Evra, all defenders many times. If you watch the situation, you can see it. I’m sure that we will win the appeal.”

Looking on the bright side, Mancini felt that City’s stirring second half fightback was firm evidence that the Blues have what it takes to win the title this season.

Already without key men Yaya Toure, Gareth Barry, Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko, City almost snatched a draw as they were the better team.

And Mancini was quick to draw comparisons with the way United fell apart after Jonny Evans’ dismissal in the Blues’ 6-1 league win at Old Trafford in October.

“My feeling is good because we played a good game,” said Mancini. “I’m disappointed to lose but I’m happy with our performance and I’m proud of my players.

“I think that we took two steps forward. At Old Trafford, with ten men, they lost 6-1, and they played with 40 minutes with 10 players. We played for 80 minutes with ten players and we didn’t concede any chances in the second half.

“We scored two goals and had other chances to score. For us, it was a fantastic performance.

“I think that today was important for the league. Now we can win the league, because United are a top squad in England and if we play with the same attitude, the same strength every game, we will win the league.”

Mancini – who felt City should have been awarded a second-half penalty after Phil Jones appeared to handle Kolarov’s cross - replaced Adam Johnson and David Silva with Pablo Zabaleta and Stefan Savic at half-time, a decision that looked like an exercise in damage limitation.

And he revealed he asked his players to ‘defend well’ in the second half, and not chase the game as United had done during the 6-1 defeat.

“I said only that we need to defend very well and not concede any chances,” he added. “I said if we had a chance on set-pieces then try to score and play on the counter-attack.

“We defended very, very well and we didn’t concede any chances to United in the second half. This is not easy when you play with ten players against United.

“I wanted to defend very well because it was very difficult but not impossible to score three goals in the second half. United didn’t have any chances in the second-half.”

Mancini also defended his decision to rest first choice goalkeeper Joe Hart. Costel Pantilimon had only started in the Carling Cup before being handed the gloves for United’s visit, but Mancini insisted it was important that the Romanian gained valuable experience in case he was needed in the title run-in.

“Costel is a good keeper,” said Mancini. “He needs to play sometimes because if we need him during the season it’s important for Costel to play games.”

City sign Norwegian starlet

Manchester City: Premier League giants are already looking towards their long-term future

Manchester City have signed teenage starlet Martin Samuelsen.

The 14-year-old had been on trial with English giants Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United as well as with Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid in the past.
However, Haugesund native Samuelsen has now been deemed good enough by City to join their youth academy.
"I look forward to living in Manchester but, of course, it will be sad to leave my family and friends," he told Haugesund Avis.
"I want to be one of the best and would like to play for one of the big clubs in Europe and win something."
Samuelsen's father will also move to Manchester.

Manchester City plot double trouble for Reds in FA Cup derby

 

Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini feels Manchester City could knock Manchester United out of the FA Cup AND damage their title hopes with a win on Sunday.

The Blues boss believes that the race for the Premier League crown has boiled down to a straight fight between the two Manchester clubs and Tottenham.

And he feels that the winner on Sunday could deliver a psychological blow to their main rivals, albeit not a big one.

If City do win, it would be the first time United have lost three matches on the trot since May, 2001, and Mancini feels that the repercussions of that are uncertain.

“For me, this game is not important for the Premier League, or maybe psychologically,” said Mancini. “After two defeats, maybe another defeat would be a problem for them, but United are very strong for this.”

Watch Mancini's pre-match press conference below


But the City manager feels that the fact that United have lost two consecutive games, as well as losing the last two derby matches, makes them a dangerous animal.

“It is a difficult game – derbies are always difficult, and at this momentmaybe even more so because United are angry about two defeats.

“They are always very strong after a defeat, and for this reason it will be a very tough game.

“United have one thing – they are very positive because their mentality is very strong. Having two defeats does not happen for them, and they soon start to play strong and win games.

“After losing to us they won eight games and drew one. That is why they are always dangerous.”

But the fact that his side snapped out of their Christmas malaise by convincingly beating Liverpool is cause for optimism, he says.

“We had a reaction after Sunderland,” he said. “We deserved to win against Sunderland, but we got the reaction against Liverpool.

“That game wasn’t easy because Liverpool at the moment are a very strong team, who had conceded only 15 goals before they played us.

“But on Sunday it is a derby, United come to us after two defeats, and after the first game we played in the league, at Old Trafford, there are a lot of things in this game.”

Vincent Kompany hails 'efficient' Manchester City

 

Yaya Toure heads home amid a crowd of players

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany hailed an "efficient" performance from his side after they defeated Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

The win sees them go three points ahead of Manchester United in the Barclays Premier League title race, though Gareth Barry's second-half sending-off provided the one sour note.

Sergio Aguero, Yaya Toure and James Milner, from the penalty spot, were the scorers for City.

Man-of-the-match Kompany told Sky Sports 1: "This is massive for us. We were incredibly efficient and it's a great win.

"It is one of the top six teams out of the way and now we know United and the other teams have to play each other."

Roberto Mancini demands response from Manchester City

Roberto Mancini has demanded a response from his players after Manchester City's shock defeat to Sunderland on New Year's Day.

But while the Italian expects his Premier League leaders to learn from the mistakes at the Stadium of Light, Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish has promised to heap more misery on them tomorrow.

City take on Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium looking to pile the pressure on United by opening up a three-point gap over Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

And Mancini says there will be no more mistakes.

"We missed a big opportunity, a big chance to go three points up on United," he said. "I thought we threw three important points out of the window.

"It was important but now it is finished and we can do nothing. But at the same time, when we arrive back in Manchester, we need to think positively for the next game and for the future.

"We play again quickly and we should have good concentration for the next game.

"We have 45 points and we have scored 53 goals, and I think we need another 45 points in the second half."

Dalglish is hoping to inflict a third defeat on City in the space of six games and insists the talent of Mancini's squad holds no fears for his side.

"They are a fantastic side but so are we so we are not going to go there and be scared," he said. "It is all well and good saying they have loads of money but they have a good team.

"The money they have everyone else would love to have but unfortunately they don't.

"We will go and play whichever 11 they put on the pitch and it doesn't matter how much they cost.

"But we have the utmost respect for what they have done, we will respect and appreciate their ability.

"They are certainly a really difficult side to play against and we have our work cut out but we will work hard and fingers crossed we will come home with a result."

Mancini has told his side they must be more ruthless against Liverpool after squandering so many opportunities in defeat to Sunderland.

"I don't know how many chances we had to score but we need to pay attention in situations where we concede three or four counter-attacks," he said. "A top team can't concede situations like this - maybe one, but not three or four.

"We wanted to try to score but sometimes, when you are on the pitch, you need to understand that there are some games you cannot score. You can do nothing.

"In that moment we should stay and finish - one point is better than nil."