Tweet
Enlarge Photo Wales' Craig Bellamy reacts during their international friendly soccer match against Luxembourg at Llanelli August... Manchester City's revolving doors continued to spin on Tuesday with James Milner arriving at Eastlands for a medical before sealing a move from Aston Villa and Wales international Craig Bellamy leaving for Cardiff City.New Italian signing Mario Balotelli was presented to the media while the futures of Roque Santa Cruz and Stephen Ireland were being discussed behind the scenes. Ireland could move to Villa as part of the Milner deal.
City manager Roberto Mancini told a news conference that he expected Milner's transfer to be completed shortly, which would bring the club's summer spending to over 120 million pounds ($187.5 million).
Mancini said the 23 million pound move for Villa's England international midfielder was close to completion.
"We can close it either today or tomorrow," Mancini said.
"I think that Milner is a good player, an English player which is important. I think that Milner can play in different positions."
Asked if the deal would involve Ireland moving to Villa Park, Mancini added: "I hope so."
He confirmed Cardiff's earlier announcement that Bellamy had left for his home town on a season-long loan and did not rule out a return despite excluding it previously.
"You can never tell in football," he said.
BAD BOY
Balotelli, who has joined City from European champions Inter Milan to link up with his former manager, denied through an interpreter that he was "a bad boy" and was excited about playing in England.
The player, who made his Italy debut last Tuesday two days before his 20th birthday, arrives with a reputation for hot-headedness after a number of arguments with team-mates, fans and Jose Mourinho, his manager at Inter.
"I am not a bad boy. I am just a normal guy," he said.
"I am happy to be here at Manchester City because of the manager and the environment. I was sorry to leave my family and friends behind in Italy but not for professional reasons.
"I think I will fit in the Premier League because I think for a striker it is probably the ideal league in comparison to Italy for example where it is quite tactical. I believe that I will fit in the Premier League quite well."
Mancini added: "All of us are said to be bad boys when we are young, but I have worked with Mario before and he is a normal person.
"He is young player, only 20 years old, who can do a lot in the Premier League. He has all the qualities needed to become a fantastic player."
Balotelli could make his City debut against Romanian club Timisoara in the Europa League later this week.
(Reporting by Mike Collett, editing by Barry Moody)
To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Full Text RSS Feeds | WordPress Auto Translator
