here's what i'd do in city's situation.
sit on the money til west ham get desparate and call back. agree jonno and 5m in return for parker. WH probbably still have to sell, so upson goes to arsenal, kolo to city.
around the same time big sam realises he's got a player who doesnt want to know, and a board foaming at the mouth. city probably won't save much on RSC but we get rid of TBH and it does our reputation as hard barginers no harm whatsoever.
jo to valencia if villa can be persuaded to join, otherwise, offer to everton as p/e for arteta. he's worth paying a good fee for, say, 13m+jo.
it'd be very tempting to release vassell, mills and hamman now in return for them dropping 15% of the salaries they will earn before the end of the season. elano leaves but only on our terms, otherwise it would seem like he is bossing us around.
offer evans on loan. sell benj for 50p if we sign two strikers in total, caicedo on loan (pref in prem) if we get three. same with onuoha and fernandes, both to leave permanently if replacements are found.
conduct any big-player negotiations behind the scenes (issuing everyone with non-disclosure-contracts and using unknown faces as agents for ADG). the usual ITK's at city can be kept out of the loop, the only people who need to know are MH (and his trusted team), Khaldoun, Cook and board members and their secretaries.
sit back and watch as the demoralised fans go beserk whilst nothing is happening, happy in the knowledge that the same level of desparation will be setting in at west ham, blackburn, and with several player's agents, all of whom expected us to blitz the market with ultra-lucrative offers.
piss myself at the rumours and theories that spread to fill the void.
