Well, I stayed in to watch the opening of the transfer window on Sky Sports News, hoping we'd sign lots of players very quickly. It hasn't happened quite like that - though it is only 00:51 at the moment. What we do have is the City related articles in Thursday's papers, which carry interesting information on what we imagine will be the first two deals: Roque Santa Cruz and Wayne Bridge.
The Independent reports an £18million bid for Santa Cruz. The Times says that a £17m bid could be lodged on Thursday. The possibility of Nedum Onuoha going as a makeweight is mentioned. Surely a former Allardyce favourite, Tal Ben Haim, is more likely? Allardyce is quoted as suggesting that a deal is very likely:
You never welcome losing your best players, but you can't help it if they make a bid, and you have to do whatever you have to do to take consideration over it and make the right decision from the club's point of view.
Regarding Wayne Bridge, there's a larger range of opinions. The Independent says that we will offer 'more than £11m' for Bridge, whom Hughes has made his 'number one target'. It goes on to claim that Garry Cook hopes to agree a deal within the next 72 hours. Chelsea are likely to accept, and Bridge will be offered more than his current £70k/week in wages. The Mail says we're 'on the verge' of a £12m deal, having already convinced Bridge that we're an attractive prospect. The least positive paper is The Times, which reports that a £10m bid has been made, but is open to the prospect that we will not sign him: in which case we will apparently go for Bayern Munich's Phillip Lahm.
Other players mentioned are: Kolo Toure (Independent, Mail), Shay Given (Independent), Alex (Mail), Amr Zaki (Times), Matthew Upson (Times).
Just thirty days to go...
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