Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy is set to end up in the
Champions League after all — by moving to Tottenham this summer in
a cut-price £6million deal.
City boss Roberto Mancini is ready to offload any players who do
not want to work with him, and his relationship with Bellamy has
not recovered since the player’s complaints about over-training
were met with a startling invitation from the manager to go on
holiday in the middle of the season.
Cut-price deal: Bellamy is set for Spurs
Well done, mate: Bellamy congratulates Redknapp
after Spurs beat City to fourth place
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, who was warmly congratulated by
Bellamy after Tottenham’s decisive 1-0 victory at Eastlands
guaranteed their top-four finish at City’s expense on Wednesday
night, has tried to sign the Wales striker before and is keen to
revamp his strikeforce.
Mancini has accepted he will have less to spend than if City had
finished in the top four, and is eager to raise funds by selling
Stephen Ireland and Bellamy, neither of whom fit into his
plans.
Bellamy is on a bumper £50,000-a-week deal at City and the club
understand Spurs will not be able to match those wages if they ask
for more than a half the £12m they paid West Ham in 2008.
Mancini said last night: ‘We must pay attention to what players
we buy and not just spend a lot of money.’
Hamburg’s £11m midfielder Jerome Boateng is a more realistic
type of signing for City than Fernando Torres, given that they will
be playing in the Europa League.
Realistic target: Boateng (right) could play at
Eastlands next season
Mancini also faces a battle to keep Carlos Tevez — although the
Argentine’s future depends on whether either of the Spanish giants,
Real Madrid or Barcelona, decide to make the striker a top
target.
City finish their season at West Ham today but have left Joleon
Lescott behind to train as he tries to get fit for the World
Cup.
He believes the club are still attractive to players who want to
come to the Premier League, despite facing another season outside
the Champions League.
Lescott said: ‘I think we’ll still be linked with big players.
The ambition of the club hasn’t changed. The standard of names
won’t change and they are not unrealistic.
‘A couple of years ago, this club would never have been linked
with the likes of Kaka. But with top players like Carlos Tevez and
Ade (Emmanuel Adebayor) here, I am sure others will want to
come.’
