Striking fear: City's attempts to sign Emmanuel
Adebayor will set panic into the 'Big Four' after the club
completed the arrival of Argentine ace Carlos Tevez (R)
Manchester
City are on the verge of signing Arsenal
striker Emmanuel Adebayor after having their £25million bid
accepted. The Gunners are willing to offload the Togo star, who is
now set to join Carlos Tevez at Eastlands.
Manager Mark Hughes has moved quickly to wrap up the deal and
Adebayor is expected to sign a five-year deal worth £170,000 a
week.
Pairing Adebayor and Tevez - whose £25m arrival was confirmed
last night - would be a coup for City as they look to break into
the top four of the Barclays Premier League.
Meanwhile,
Chelsea captain John Terry's interest in a move to City
remains very strong and Hughes also still intends to sign
Everton defender Joleon Lescott for £20m.
The Frenchman has grown tired of what he perceives to be
Adebayor's poor attitude - the player's relationship with fellow
forward Nicklas Bendtner is particularly bad - and has already
lined up Morocco's Marouane Chamakh from Bordeaux as a
replacement.
In reserve: Arsenal will move for Moroccan Marouane
Chamakh from Bordeaux should Adebayor decide to accept a £25million
summer switch to Eastlands
Chamakh is also interesting
Sunderland, with the bidding
due to start at £8m. Wenger said recently: 'We are keen on Shamakh
but someone would have to leave first.'
Many Arsenal players would be glad to see the back of Adebayor,
but his sale will be seen as another major blow to the club's hopes
of winning the Premier League for the first time in six
seasons.
Arsenal are also ready to listen to bids for midfielder Cesc
Fabregas and the Gunners will surely face mutiny if they end up
selling two of their top players in one summer.
Chelsea fans will also be in uproar if Terry leaves and although
the 29-year-old was holding talks with his club on Monday, it would
appear now that they will have to increase his pay to the £200,000
a week on offer at City if they are to stop him leaving. So far,
Chelsea have refused to pay up.
Blues farewell? England captain John Terry is upset
how Chelsea have handled Man City's interest
Terry has been upset by the way Chelsea have handled the
situation and was unhappy new coach Carlo Ancelotti chose to speak
out about the matter last week without talking to him
first.
At City there is quiet confidence that England captain Terry
will complete one of the transfers of the decade and also that
Lescott will join him to make a new central defensive pairing.
Hughes is also continuing to monitor Arsenal defender Kolo Toure
in case Terry does not come and is still on the look-out for a
creative midfielder. He wants Xabi Alonso but does not think
Liverpool will sell to City.
With Hughes already having signed Roque Santa Cruz and Gareth
Barry this summer - both for £18m - the club could take their
spending beyond £150m in the unlikely event that all their intended
deals come off.
Tevez has finally moved to City after failing to agree a
permanent deal with Manchester United at the end of his two-year
loan spell.
Last night
Manchester United manager
Sir Alex Ferguson appeared to blame Tevez for the acrimonious
departure and said: 'I half expected this a long time back. I think
maybe they did a deal in January because I spoke to him and gave
him an offer on the Inter Milan night (March 11) and he never came
back to me.
'I phoned him on holiday - he never came back to me. I texted
him twice - he never got back. Obviously he had made his mind
up.'