A new story via Ogden at the Telegraph:
Manchester City offer £6m for Partizan Belgrade defender Stefan Savic
Roberto Mancini is aiming to make Partizan Belgrade defender Stefan Savic his first summer signing at Manchester City after lodging a £6 million offer for the Montenegro international.
Mancini, whose hopes of luring Alexis Sanchez to Eastlands appear to be diminishing following the Chilean winger’s insistence that he will stay at Udinese if he fails to agree a move to Barcelona, has identified Savic as his leading defensive target after abandoning plans to sign Bolton’s Gary Cahill.
But Partizan have warned City that they will not sell the 20 year-old until next month at the earliest after insisting that he plays in the Champions League qualifier against FK Skendija.
Uefa regulations allow for players to play in the Champions League group stages for their new club if their previous club has been eliminated in the qualifying rounds. However, should Savic help Partizan qualify for the group stages, as they did last season, then the exemption would not apply and he would be cup-tied for City’s group stage campaign.
Partizan are keen to retain Savic until the January transfer window, but the club are prepared to consider City’s offer following the second leg of the Skendija tie on July 20.
The Serbian champions value Savic at £9 million and they are likely to hold out for that figure due to a sell-on clause which entitles the player’s former club, BSK Borca, to half of any transfer fee.
Mancini regards Savic as offering better value and long-term potential than Cahill, who is expected to complete a £17 million transfer from Bolton to Arsenal this week.
But City could still do business with Bolton this summer by allowing midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips to leave Eastlands for the Reebok.
Bolton failed to complete a loan deal for the England international in January, but the former Chelsea player has told friends at the Reebok that he is keen to move to the club in order to secure regular football.
Wright-Phillips is one of several City players who have been told they can leave this summer should a suitable offer be made.
But Emmanuel Adebayor, a £25 million signing from Arsenal two years ago, has rejected the chance to move to Paris St Germain less than a week after turning down a transfer to Zenit St Petersburg.
Meanwhile, former City captain Mike Doyle has died after losing his battle with liver disease at the age of 64.
Doyle, who won every domestic honour and the European Cup-Winners’ Cup during his 16-year career with City, became a legendary figure at Maine Road during the most successful period in the club’s history in the 1960s and 1970s.
Manchester City offer £6m for Partizan Belgrade defender Stefan Savic
Roberto Mancini is aiming to make Partizan Belgrade defender Stefan Savic his first summer signing at Manchester City after lodging a £6 million offer for the Montenegro international.
Mancini, whose hopes of luring Alexis Sanchez to Eastlands appear to be diminishing following the Chilean winger’s insistence that he will stay at Udinese if he fails to agree a move to Barcelona, has identified Savic as his leading defensive target after abandoning plans to sign Bolton’s Gary Cahill.
But Partizan have warned City that they will not sell the 20 year-old until next month at the earliest after insisting that he plays in the Champions League qualifier against FK Skendija.
Uefa regulations allow for players to play in the Champions League group stages for their new club if their previous club has been eliminated in the qualifying rounds. However, should Savic help Partizan qualify for the group stages, as they did last season, then the exemption would not apply and he would be cup-tied for City’s group stage campaign.
Partizan are keen to retain Savic until the January transfer window, but the club are prepared to consider City’s offer following the second leg of the Skendija tie on July 20.
The Serbian champions value Savic at £9 million and they are likely to hold out for that figure due to a sell-on clause which entitles the player’s former club, BSK Borca, to half of any transfer fee.
Mancini regards Savic as offering better value and long-term potential than Cahill, who is expected to complete a £17 million transfer from Bolton to Arsenal this week.
But City could still do business with Bolton this summer by allowing midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips to leave Eastlands for the Reebok.
Bolton failed to complete a loan deal for the England international in January, but the former Chelsea player has told friends at the Reebok that he is keen to move to the club in order to secure regular football.
Wright-Phillips is one of several City players who have been told they can leave this summer should a suitable offer be made.
But Emmanuel Adebayor, a £25 million signing from Arsenal two years ago, has rejected the chance to move to Paris St Germain less than a week after turning down a transfer to Zenit St Petersburg.
Meanwhile, former City captain Mike Doyle has died after losing his battle with liver disease at the age of 64.
Doyle, who won every domestic honour and the European Cup-Winners’ Cup during his 16-year career with City, became a legendary figure at Maine Road during the most successful period in the club’s history in the 1960s and 1970s.