Chretien rejects move to City

The idea of selling Corluka now looks even better, as the right back we bid for, presumably to replace him, has turned us down.

He has signed a contract extension with AS Nancy-Lorraine, which ties him to the club until summer 2012. The player confirmed that financial difficulties at Betis prevented the move: "Moving to La Liga isn't possible at the moment because Spanish clubs have financial difficulties". This refers to Nancy's demanding of an increased fee for the player, and fears over a potential Betis takeover.

So where did this leave City? According to yesterday's reports, we bid more (£4.6m) for Chretien than Betis (£3.5m), and even more than the level Nancy were trying to renegotiate Betis' bid towards (£4m). The player, however, was clear that he only wanted to go to Spain. And with that option off the table, he's stuck with Nancy.

I'm not upset that this hasn't gone through. I'm sure this sort of thing happens all the time. But if another proposed deal goes through regardless, my faith in the Cook/Hughes regime takes another knock.