The 31 year old right back will be reunited with Roberto Mancini on a transfer move valued at
£3m. City have already signed striker Scott Sinclair for about £8m, Richard Wright joins on a
year long move from Preston as back up goalie to Joe Hart and Costel Pantimilion.
The Blues are expected to prise out holding midfielder Javi Garcia from Benfica for
approximately £20m.
Liverpool set up a Carling Cup final against Cardiff after playing out a thrilling 2-2 draw with
Manchester City at Anfield to advance 3-2 on aggregate.
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, City quickly drew level on aggregate thanks to a superb long-range
strike from defensive midfielder Nigel de Jong that flew into the top corner.
Liverpool will go to the second leg of the Carling Cup Semi Final with a 1 goal advantage. A
penalty given away by Stefan Savic's foul on Daniel Agger, appearing to be slight accidental
contact, however there was no questioning the decision.
Manchester City slumped to their second home defeat in four days as Steven Gerrard's early penalty
moved Liverpool to within 90 minutes of their first Wembley appearance since 1996.
Lacking key men, including skipper Vincent Kompany who sat forlornly in the stands as he began a
four-match ban, and drained by the energy exerted at having to play for 78 minutes with 10 men
against Manchester United at the weekend, City were a shadow of their usual selves.
Have at the 20 minutes highlights before it is taken down. Stefan Savic brings down Daniel Agger
and Steven Gerrard converts the PK in the 12th minute. Liverpool were much the better team for
large parts of the match in the first half. In the second they played good hard defensive ball to
deny City at the Etihad.
Manchester City has agreed a free with Fiorentina for defender Matija Nastasic, according to a
report. The Serbian centre back is supposed to be a replacement for Stefan Savic, who is likely to
be farmed out to another team. Meanwhile, ...
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Nicks' Note: So, Chelsea lost the Community Shield. Picking up the pieces
is Sahil, purveyor of sardonic smiles and blase outlook. Read on to find out how
he thinks the Shield is basically as much of a professional football fixture as playing
keepy-uppies with your dog in the back garden.
What being below Stefan Savic in the pecking order can do to a man
Narked at being left on the bench for Manchester City's largely inconsequential curtain-raising
Community Shield victory over Chelsea at Villa Park yesterday, a jilted Kolo Toure allegedly handed
his winners' medal over to a City fan as he sidled down the tunnel after the game as these photos
(posted on Twitter) would appear to show.
Happy Friday to you. 13th a number lucky to some and not so much to others. We find today a
story on a young centre back at Arsenal who might be going out on loan to a Championship club.
Ignasi Miquel is supposedly on the radar of Brighton who are riding on the wave of their success in
recent seasons.
What does the future hold for Tevez, Baines, Drogba and M'Vila? - originally posted on
Soccerlens.com
Here's a look at the top transfer stories circulating in the Premier League today, with guest
appearances from Carlos Tevez (will he stay or go), Leighton Baines (can he match the flying
Frenchman) and Didier Drogba.
According to the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United have signed Freddie Veseli from
Manchester City.
The 19-year-old central defender joined the club in 2008 but has become frustrated by the lack
of first team opportunities. He made his debut for the club in a pre-season friendly in the summer
but when the dreadful Stefan Savic got the nod ahead of him during Vincent Kompany's absence, the
Veseli clearly realised it was time to leave.
Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City (Aggregate 3-2) Carling Cup Semi-final 25th January
2012
Liverpool came from behind twice against Manchester City at Anfield to secure a place in the
final of the Carling Cup, and their first appearance at Wembley in 16 years.
A trip to Wembley and Liverpool's first cup final in nearly five years are on the line on
Wednesday, with Manchester City heading to Anfield for the second leg of the League Cup semi-final.
Liverpool have a 1-0 advantage from the first leg after a Steven Gerrard penalty capped a dominant
opening spell for Kenny Dalglish's squad, but there's little illusion that they'll be able to coast
into the final, with City more than capable of turning the tie over.
The great irony here being that if it was Peter Crouch, it 100% would have gone inFootball, the
great reducing force in all our lives. If Jermain Defoe had stretched for that Bale cross just a
millisecond earlier, we'd all be headed to work this morning without that overbearing sense of
melancholy that you're probably still feeling.
Given that he really shouldn't have been on the pitch by that time, Tottenham had every right to
feel absolutely bloody eviscerated at the final whistle seeing as Mario Balotelli both won and
then subsequently rolled home a 95th-minute penalty to nab all three points for Man City with the
final touch of the game at the Etihad.
The first half was as dull and dragging as the Utd vs Arsenal match. The second half was just
the opposite - a high voltage pulsating encounter between 1st placed City and 3rd placed Spurs.
Roberto Mancini's squad went ahead in the second half through Samir Nasri and Joleon Lescott, both
goals within minutes of each other.
In the big two Sunday games in the Premier League, both Manchester City and Manchester United
dealt big blows to North London rivals Spurs and Arsenal.
In the first game, Man City won a thrilling controversial 3-2 match thanks to Mario Balotelli's
injury-time penalty.
The controversy is whether Balotelli should have been on the field to score the penalty as he
appeared to stamp on Scott Parker's head.
In the big two Sunday games in the Premier League, both Manchester City and Manchester United
dealt big blows to North London rivals Spurs and Arsenal.
In the first game, Man City won a thrilling controversial 3-2 match thanks to Mario Balotelli's
injury-time penalty.
The controversy is whether Balotelli should have been on the field to score the penalty as he
appeared to stamp on Scott Parker's head.
Manchester city headed 3 points clear as they recorded a win over Wigan although the match
certainly won't go down as one of the greatest City performances of all time. I got a rather uneasy
feeling just before kick-off and it proved to be quite a nervy game all round as, I think it's fair
to say, City scrapped away to get a 1-0 victory in a half empty DW Stadium.
Captain Fantastic...Liverpool were victorious in the first leg of
the Carling Cup Semi Final with Manchester City last night courtesy of a Steven Gerrard penalty.
Manager Kenny Dalglish used tactics to his advantage as Liverpool began to park the bus in the
second half. Man City could do nothing to get an effort past the Liverpool defence let alone past
Pepe Reina who was left relatively jobless throughout the 90 minutes.
It was a bit of a strange, suffocating old game but, thanks principally to Kenny Dalglish
switching to a flat-back nine for the majority of the second-half, Liverpool came away from the
Etihad with the slimmest of advantages (City's first back-to-back home defeat since February 2008)
to take back to Anfield for the second leg.
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini was involved in an angry tunnel exchange with Liverpool
skipper Steven Gerrard after Wednesday night's 1-0 Carling Cup defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
The pair clashed twice, the second particularly fractious, with Gerrard annoyed at Mancini's
response to a late tackle by Glen Johnson on Joleon Lescott.
Liverpool will take a 1-0 advantage back to Anfield after defeating Manchester City in their
Carling Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
A first-half penalty from Steven Gerrard was all that separated the sides at the Etihad Stadium
after City defender Stefan Savic clumsily felled a charging Daniel Agger in the box.
Liverpool are now one step closer to reaching the Carling Cup Final after an impressive display
at Etihad Stadium. Liverpool were by far the better team in the first half, keeping possession well
and creating chances.
They were rewarded in the 11th minute when Daniel Agger was fouled in the box by Stefan
Savic.
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard slots home a 13th minute penalty to give the visitors the lead,
following a foul on Daniel Agger from City defender Stefan Savic in the area.
Just a quickie to let y'all good people know that Vincent Kompany will indeed have to serve a
four-match ban after the FA threw out Manchester City's appeal this afternoon because Wayne Rooney
wafted an imaginary gavel at them* during the hearing.
Arsenal's 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Carling Cup match yesterday showed, once again,
the power of petropounds. But one goal from over 100 million is a pretty weak return, really.
However, a win is a win and even if City are on the ropes in Europe, they've booked their spot in
the semifinals of the league cup.
Carling Cup returns to the menu as the victors of tonight's game will seal their path into the
semi final of this competition. It won't be so easy to win this year's competitions, well, compared
to our run last season. Apart from Manchester City, there's still Manchester United, Chelsea and
Liverpool still in this competition.
SWOL analyst Mohamed Al-Hendy continues his countdown of the best U21 footballers in the world that you should watch in 2013 as we break into the the 80′s with places 90-86.
Georgi Schennikov of PFC CSKA Moskva (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
90. Georgi Schennikov
It feels like Georgi Schennikov has been around for ages, yet somehow he's still only 21.
Here's a quick recap of what's been going on at OL recently. There have been talks of several
depatures while Aulas has also promised new players, perhaps even this week.
Liverpool defender Daniel Agger has become a target for Premier League champions Manchester City,
after the Danish international told manager Brendan Rodgers that he sees his future away from
Anfield.
The Daily Mirror report that Manchester City have already tabled a bid of £13 million for the
27-year-old, with Real Madrid and Barcelona also monitoring the availability of Agger, who has
voiced his desire to move on.
After the first leg of the Euro 2012 play-offs, there were a wide variety of results to compare
and analyze before the second leg on Tuesday. Some ties already look finished, while some are still
very much alive.
We take a look at one thing we learned from each match.
Croatia remain world class
A 3-0 demolition of Turkey reaffirms that despite missing out on the World Cup, Croatia are
still a team with enough quality and talent to win the European Championships.
