As speculation continues that Michel Platini and Uefa may seek to use the credit crunch and the high levels of debt at some clubs as a justification of bringing in salary caps, the new chief executive of the FA has given another negative reaction.
“Anything that makes the competition stronger and more deep, I think has got to be welcomed. We don’t want to see the Premier League becoming a top- four procession every year.
“If in the process of the new money coming into Manchester City  and some interesting, I think different, strategies that people like Aston Villa are adopting  we can get to seven or eight clubs that realistically have a chance of breaking into the top four, it can only strengthen the Premier League, which is to our mutual advantage.â€Â
For City this is good news. Our spending on wages and transfers is undoubtedly going to be very high in relation to turnover for the next couple of years as our owners invest and seek to grow the club. The last thing we need is a salary cap linked to turnover, which would only consolidate the position of the established big clubs and make it nigh on impossible to challenge them.
Chief executive of the Premier League, Richard Scudamore also rejected calls for a salary cap earlier this year. Although not everyone in the Premier League is apparently against the idea. With their current financial constraints the Arsenal chief executive mentioned it recently in an interview with David Conn. Coincidentally the Gunners currently have the highest match day revenues in the country.
Interestingly I saw this article in The Telegraph in February which stated:
Ninety-five of the ECA’s 103 full members gathered in Geneva, ranging from F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg to Real Madrid, and there was remarkable unanimity in opposition to a wage cap.
Smaller clubs baulk at setting salaries at a percentage of revenue because they fear it would allow the richest clubs to continue to dominate. The larger clubs would welcome the chance to spend less on players’ wages, but will not countenance falling behind their rivals.
The political manoeuvring on this topic by Platini is something to keep a watchful eye on. If he was to get his way, it could cause more damage to Sheikh Mansour’s ambitions than any onfield opposition.
By all accounts Joleon Lescott received a great reception from Everton fans last night in their friendly against Malaga. Lescott played the full 90 minutes and heard his name being sung at the end.
David Moyes added:
“The crowd gave Joleon Lescott a good reaction because they understand that what we are doing is right.
“We’ve been very consistent on this and said Joleon would not be sold. I cannot comment any further than that.”
There’s been speculation that City may make a final bid in the region of £22, but given the resolute nature of everyone at Everton there seems little chance of it being accepted. This is despite Lescott having stated he would like to talk to City. Maybe a written transfer request, which would waive his right to any loyalty payments, might see a change in Everton’s stance but I doubt it, and Lescott is clearly reluctant to go this far. The support of the fans last night will surely have made this even less likely.
So where does that leave City? It was clear on Wednesday night that we need a commanding left-footed central defender and any talk to the contrary is bordering on the deluded.
Sebastien Bassong, who last week was said to be top of our alternatives to Lescott, has joined Spurs.
Matthew Upson is again being mentioned this morning, though his lack of pace makes him as likely to fit into Hughes system about as well as Richard Dunne currently does. The dire financial position of West Ham’s owners may make them more likely to sell than Everton.
Sylvain Distin is being courted by Sunderland, Villa and possibly Liverpool, yet Portsmouth are now saying they won’t be selling. Distin used to have decent pace and crucially he was excellent at moving across to cover left back when they were caught upfield. This is a feature of his game that we’ve sorely missed since his departure, especially with the attacking instincts of Wayne Bridge. If we want him we should move fast.
Brede Hangeland is a name being bandied around by a lot of supporters, but there doesn’t appear to be anything coming from the club. His lack of pace puts him in the same category as Upson for me.
Chelsea won’t be selling Alex, so that’s that.
There seems to be little consideration of players plying their trade overseas in this transfer window. Hughes clearly wants players with Premiership experience who can hit the ground running, so there seems little chance of anyone coming from abroad.
At the moment there’s no outstanding alternative to Lescott, and the question has to be asked as to whether we’ve once again spent to long chasing a player who won’t be coming.
According to several reports Joleon Lescott yesterday asked to be allowed to speak to City in a meeting with David Moyes. Whether this is going to be enough to enable City to complete the signing of our first choice target for the left-sided centre-back position remains to be seen.
Moyes, as we’ve come to expect, is still against the idea and Bill Kenwright is unlikely to go against the wishes of his manager or the clubs supporters. It looks like Lescott will now have to go to the next stage submit a written transfer request, and City may well follow this up with a fresh bid.
There is the distinct impression that Moyes and Kenwright’s will turn down Lescott’s transfer request and Everton are continuing to make it known they don’t need the money. Their likely signing of Philippe Senderos is said to be cover for the injured Jagielka.
The whole thing has stalemate written all over it, and I can’t see City wanting the situation to drag on much longer with the knowledge that second choices Bassong and Distin are being chased by Tottenham and Villa respectively. The canny Moyes may well be banking on City soon running out of patience.
The only thing likely to change this would be for Moyes to decide he doesn’t want an unhappy player on his hands, otherwise I can see City making a move for Bassong before the end of the week.
The race for Fabian Delph’s signature seems to have stepped up in the last few hours with Aston Villa currently looking set to sign the Leeds youngster according to Leeds’ site:
Leeds United can confirm that a fee has been agreed with Aston Villa for Fabian Delph.
Leeds United wishes to place on record our appreciation for the honourable manner in which Aston Villa have conducted their interest in the player.
The club has resisted approaches from other FA Premier League clubs since agreeing terms with Aston Villa.
Having given Villa our commitment to transfer the player (subject to medical), we had no intention of going back on that.
Several clubs including City, Everton, Villa and Spurs have been monitoring Delph for some time and Leeds were reported to have recently rejected bids from a pair of Premier League clubs. City’s interest was confirmed over the weekend by Hughes stating “He is a young player who has been brought to our attention, I’m not sure where we are up to with that because obviously I have been busy with the game [against Barnsley]”.
The Mail among others had us set to offer £10m, but this only seems to have spurred Villa into action, with The Mail now claiming Villa to have agreed an £8m fee.
With the statement on Leeds web site confirming that Villa are now in an exclusive position to discuss terms with the youngster it looks like Delph could be one to get away.
I can’t help feeling that if we really wanted him we would have made our move earlier, however it is unlike Hughes to comment on a player unless we’re set to make a serious bid for them.
My feeling is that Martin O’Neill could well convince the youngster to sign for Villa with a promise of more first team action than he would be likely to get at Eastlands, even if we could offer higher wages.
Video:
Fabian Delph goals 08/09