A major frustration of this week has been the fact that Aleksandr Kolarov is still playing for Rome's bitter, jealous sky-blue wearing club rather than Manchester's. (This should certainly lead to an easier transition if he does join us.) Apparently
we agreed a fee last Friday so we've had a whole week now without making him ours.
One possible explanation for this delay has been the interest of Juventus. Lazio President Claudio Lotito
has been speaking of this, presumably trying to draw another, higher bid out of MCFC:
'If the Bianconeri (Juventus) are interested then they should make an offer which is adequate. Everything is possible, everyone has his price.'
If Juve did match our bid, and presented Kolarov with a choice between us and them, well then we could no longer be confident of signing the player. With the prestige of Juventus, the relative proximity of Turin to Belgrade (relative to Manchester), the fact that Juve are probably more likely to win things this year than City - it could happen.
So we've got to get this tied up as soon as possible.
Graham Chase reports in Saturday's
Independent that we are 'confident' of completing the deal, and that Mancini 'hopes to complete a deal for Kolarov this weekend.' Let's hope so: I don't want Aaron Lennon v Wayne Bridge on 14 August.
1 comment:
I appreciate that City need to ensure that we don't pay over the odds; but surely the objective is to secure a world class football team first -- which might mean paying more initially. Once you get to the finish line, then you call the shots. Having said that, it's not my money, but I do think that we can't be too precious about the money. If the player is good enough and we can afford him, then buy the bugger!
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