Summer 2010 Transfer Thread: B*llsh*t, Rumours & Wishes

[MattW]

Two pretty similar stories give the impression that this will soon be done - Ireland + between £16 - £19.5m.

The Independent

Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, has offered Stephen Ireland as an inducement in an attempt to add James Milner to his list of close-season arrivals at Eastlands.

Mancini has conducted a tireless pursuit of Aston Villa and England midfielder Milner over the summer and has already had a £22m offer turned down. City have now proposed a £24m deal to Villa which would involve £8m-rated Ireland, who has struggled to establish himself in Mancini's midfield plans, going to the West Midlands in addition to City paying the Birmingham club £16m to secure Milner's signature.

"We are close with Milner," said Mancini, who has already spent a combined total of around £80m during the close season on David Silva, Jerome Boateng, Yaya Touré and Aleksander Kolarov.

Mancini is also hoping to secure the services of Mario Balotelli, the Internazionale forward, before the transfer window closes, despite the fact that City's offer of £25m for the player is £5m below Inter's valuation. "We are probably closer with Milner than we are with Balotelli," Mancini added.

Guardian

Stephen Ireland is emerging as the key figure in Manchester City's pursuit of James Milner after Aston Villa asked if he could form part of a player-plus-cash exchange.

Ireland is available from City as Roberto Mancini looks to trim an oversized squad and the Villa manager, Martin O'Neill, wants the midfielder to bring more creativity to his team as they prepare to lose their player of the year.

The talks have accelerated in the past few days and it is now a question of whether the clubs can finalise the financial part of the deal. There were strong indications today that there has been a significant breakthrough, with Milner withdrawn from Villa's squad for the friendly against Valencia.

After the 0-0 draw, O'Neill admitted Milner was close to leaving: "We didn't play him against Valencia because there could be something happening in terms of the transfer over the weekend or Monday or Tuesday.

"To my knowledge no fee has been agreed but talks are taking place involving our chief executive and the chairman. I think for everyone's benefit it is probably time to try and get something done. It happened two years ago with Gareth Barry when it was not resolved. I'm sure that no one wants to go down that route again."

Ireland, a product of City's youth academy, spoke recently of wanting to stay at the club and compete for his place in a side which could have £130m worth of new players by the end of the transfer window. But Mancini is not planning to include him in his 25-man squad for this season, having not been overly impressed by the former Republic of Ireland international's form last season. This has been made clear to Ireland and, with the player slowly coming round to the idea, there is a belief on both sides that there could be more movement over the weekend.

"We are close but we still have time," Mancini said. "We are speaking to Aston Villa and we are near. I am hopeful."

Until now, Villa had been asking for a straight fee of £30m, with City making one bid of £18m plus a further £2m in add-ons, and informing Villa they were not prepared to go higher than £24m. The involvement of Ireland could see the clubs reach a compromise for a £27.5m package, taking into account the worth of a player who was voted City's player of the year two seasons ago.

[JUAN PABLO]

18m and Ireland on back of Express

[Mazrim]

That'd do for me Tommy.

In fact, we'd be taking the piss out of them.

[TheSandman]

We would be.

They valued Ireland at £12million so they by my admittedly poor maths have met our valuation.

If it's true as I rate Ireland highly I'd be absolutely delighted.

[JUAN PABLO]

That'd do for me Tommy.

In fact, we'd be taking the piss out of them.

Agree, Ireland will be good for us  and Milner is not worth 28 million ;-DDDD

[JUAN PABLO]

That'd do for me Tommy.

In fact, we'd be taking the piss out of them.

Ireland will be good for us  and Milner is not worth 28 million  ;-DDD

[VillaZogmariner]

All good and wise suggestions gentlemen but Mascherano sits high above them on an overrated throne of skulls.

I'll see your Mascherano and raise you John Terry.

[ozzjim]

John Terry is the worst of the lot.

Seth Johnson must get an honourable mention though.

[David_Nab]

Sorry if mentioned but on the OS MON says Shorey is having a medical at WBA.

[citizenDJ]

18 million plus Steven Ireland would be a very good deal indeed, I think!

Madness, of course, but at least we'll benefit from it.

[The Man With A Stick]

Sorry if mentioned but on the OS MON says Shorey is having a medical at WBA.

Hopefully that means he isn't going to Celtic and we're not getting McGeady.  Hang out the bunting!

[Karl Bridges]

Sorry if mentioned but on the OS MON says Shorey is having a medical at WBA.

Hopefully that means he isn't going to Celtic and we're not getting McGeady.  Hang out the bunting!

Probably just means he doesn't fancy moving to Glasgow.

[Loxton01]

I would settle for Ireland + 15m as a decent deal for the club.

what we need then to do is invest the 15m in 2 key players.

We do not need Aiden Fecking McGeady or Robbie Keane.

We know Tottenham have no money and need to wheel and deal lets not give them money buying their also rans like jenas keane hutton etc so as to allow spurs to go and buy more quality

[Walmley_Villa]

I'll be interested to hear what Shorey has to say about his time with us....

[olaftab]

SSN stated that Bolton are close to getting Reo-Coker for 1million. This is crazy. We need a fit and fully functioning  NRC  in our squad and judging by his performance last night  he is worth far more than that.