Sportswash! - Let’s oil stare at Manchester City!

[villa4europe]

under a certain age (21 IIRC) dont have to be registered though, for example fonz wouldnt have to be one of our 25, but just to highlight how pointless this new rule is, all of the foriegners in some prem teams youth set up dont count either, so weiss doesnt take up a number, kakuta at chelsea doesnt take up a number, so from what i can quickly make out from rev's list, 9 of them wont need to be registered but can still be used

another spit polishing from a football governing body :shock:

[Damocles]

Current Manchester City squad:

1 GK Shay Given

26 GK David González

27 GK Joe Hart

37 GK Gunnar Nielsen

2 DF Micah Richards

3 DF Wayne Bridge

4 DF Nedum Onuoha

5 DF Pablo Zabaleta

15 DF Javier Garrido

17 DF Jérôme Boateng

19 DF Joleon Lescott

28 DF Kolo Touré (captain)

30 DF Shaleum Logan

36 DF Javan lVidal

44 DF Dedryck Boyata

45 DF Greg Cunningham

6 MF Michael Johnson

7 MF Stephen Ireland

8 MF Shaun Wright-Phillips

11 MF Adam Johnson

18 MF Gareth Barry

24 MF Patrick Vieira

29 MF Kelvin Etuhu

33 MF Vincent Kompany

34 MF Nigel de Jong

40 MF Vladimír Weiss

48 MF Abdisalam Ibrahim

— MF Yaya Touré

-- MF David Silva

14 FW Roque Santa Cruz

16 FW Jô

20 FW Felipe Caicedo

25 FW Emmanuel Adebayor

32 FW Carlos Tévez

39 FW Craig Bellamy

52 FW Alex Nimely

-- FW Robinho

Fixed the above to reflect the ruleset more. The bolded players are homegrown as they have been playing in England or Wales for 3 seasons before their 21st birthday. The italicised players are 21 or below on 1st August 2010 and don't count towards the 25.

I get that as 27 players to be registered, with 22 possible homegrowns under the regulations.

Considering we'll be shipping players out, we'll be fine.

Oh, and regarding the financial regulations from UEFA. They state that contracts signed before 1st June 2010 are basically written off in the calculation, and even the ones after have until 2018 to get fully sorted out, which I imagine we will be by then.

[DiegoD]

Just out of curiosity is this 25 man squad a rule that is just coming in this year?

[leviramsey]

Just out of curiosity is this 25 man squad a rule that is just coming in this year?

Yep, this is the first season that PL rule will apply.

[leviramsey]

Current Manchester City squad:

1 GK Shay Given

26 GK David González

27 GK Joe Hart

37 GK Gunnar Nielsen

2 DF Micah Richards

3 DF Wayne Bridge

4 DF Nedum Onuoha

5 DF Pablo Zabaleta

15 DF Javier Garrido

17 DF Jérôme Boateng

19 DF Joleon Lescott

28 DF Kolo Touré (captain)

30 DF Shaleum Logan

36 DF Javan lVidal

44 DF Dedryck Boyata

45 DF Greg Cunningham

6 MF Michael Johnson

7 MF Stephen Ireland

8 MF Shaun Wright-Phillips

11 MF Adam Johnson

18 MF Gareth Barry

24 MF Patrick Vieira

29 MF Kelvin Etuhu

33 MF Vincent Kompany

34 MF Nigel de Jong

40 MF Vladimír Weiss

48 MF Abdisalam Ibrahim

— MF Yaya Touré

-- MF David Silva

14 FW Roque Santa Cruz

16 FW Jô

20 FW Felipe Caicedo

25 FW Emmanuel Adebayor

32 FW Carlos Tévez

39 FW Craig Bellamy

52 FW Alex Nimely

-- FW Robinho

Fixed the above to reflect the ruleset more. The bolded players are homegrown as they have been playing in England or Wales for 3 seasons before their 21st birthday. The italicised players are 21 or below on 1st August 2010 and don't count towards the 25.

I get that as 27 players to be registered, with 22 possible homegrowns under the regulations.

I count fourteen players who are over 21 and not homegrown (i.e. neither bold nor italic) for the purposes of the squad (the maximum being 17):

Gonzalez

Zabaleta

Garrido

Toure K

Vieira

Kompany (he's 24, IIRC)

de Jong

Toure Y

Silva

Santa Cruz

Jo

Adebayor

Tevez

Robinho

So that limits Man City to three net signings (counting players who are 21 as of 1 August 2010 as signings) of non-homegrown players over the next year, with Boateng being the non-homegrown 21-year-old who would count against the cap.

[Damocles]

You are correct about Kompany, not really sure what I was thinking on that one. Out of the entire squad so far, I imagine our 25 will be:

Given

Hart

Richards

Bridge

Zabaleta

Kompany

Toure

Lescott

M Johnson

SWP

A Johnson

Barry

Viera

De Jong

Toure

Silva

Tevez

Adebayor

RSC

I expect the rest of them to go, and for us to fill in the gaps with new signings. We have 8 homegrowns in the list above, and I've left out U21 players. We've just signed a 19 year old Columbian keeper, so I imagine he'll be number 3 instead of Gunnar (who's off to Tranmere) or Gonzalez (who nobody can work out why Hughes signed). Obviously, Boateng needs to go in there, as does Weiss. Still think we look a little light on strikers, considering that Bellamy is expected to leave.

We're rumoured with a few different ones; Dzeko, Torres and Balotelli, though Balo also wouldn't have to be registered.

Looking at that, we also need another left back, with Kolarov being mentioned heavily.

[SimplySpurfect]

There's big talk on the Spurs boards about Richards making his way to Tottenham in this window. According to one of the most respected ITK members, negotiations are already underway and it's just a matter of haggling over price and wages.

You heard anything similar?

Besides that, I can't see Michael Johnson sticking around this season. I think he'll move on to a Birmingham or Sunderland type team. But that'll be an important home grown player gone, maybe two if Richards is on his way to Spurs.

I'd also find it quite surprising, with all the money being thrown away by your owners, if Santa Cruz is still in the City squad at the end of August.

Also, I think City are going to find it quite difficult to sell off all the surplus players at the club. Robinho, for instance, I can't imagine anybody bidding more than £15m for him with City wanting a lot more than that. Could be that you'll have to send a load of players out on loan again this year.

[The_Rev]

Besides that, I can't see Michael Johnson sticking around this season. I think he'll move on to a Filthy Pigdogs or Sunderland type team. But that'll be an important home grown player gone, maybe two if Richards is on his way to Spurs.

Sorry, I had to fix that.

[Damocles]

Heard nothing about Richards recently. There were whispers about Spurs, but nothing credible that I can recall, quite honestly, I don't really know.

There's nothing doing on a transfer for MJ at the moment and he's very determined to get back in our first team and repay the faith shown in him for the past three years.

Anyway, I have just come across this story in the NOTW. This was the one that I was whinging about, as full of lies, and the one where the rumour of £220k a week came from:

MONEY-MAD Manchester City are to make Barcelona reject Yaya Toure the highest-paid player in Premier League history by handing him a phenomenal five-year deal worth a minimum £55.6MILLION.

Toure will become the first footballer in England to smash the £200,000-a-week wage barrier.

And today we lift the lid on the craziest contract in English football - signed off by City chief executive Garry Cook.

The staggering sums will astonish fans already fed up with over-paid stars failing to justify their super-sized salaries.

Ivory Coast midfielder Toure - who played just 16 games for the Spanish champions last season - will receive a guaranteed £4.1million a year basic salary AFTER tax.

On top of that he will get an image rights payment of £1.65m a year (with a profit-share on his shirt sales) PLUS an £823,000 bonus each time City qualify for the Champions League PLUS a £412,000 bonus for winning Europe's top competition PLUS additional bonuses for winning the Premier League and FA Cup - all tax-free.

It means City will pay him a basic salary this season of a whopping £185,000 a week before tax.

Incredible

That figure will rise to an incredible £221,000 a week next April when the Government's new 50 per cent tax bracket comes into force - dwarfing the wages of England stars Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and John Terry.

It also means City will have to fork out a basic £55.6m in wages over the five years - with that figure set to soar if Roberto Mancini's team are successful.

That is on top of the £24m transfer fee - making the total deal a minimum £79.6MILLION.

Toure - younger brother of City defender Kolo - passed his medical in Manchester last Monday after the transfer had been ratified by incoming Barca president Sandro Rossell, and the move was completed on Friday.

Toure, 27, has joined a squad full of inflated salaries as City go in search of the silverware to justify billionaire Arab owner Sheikh Mansour's remarkable outlay.

"This is a dream come true," said Toure.

"I have always wanted to play for the same club as my brother and I am so happy that it has finally happened.

"It's great for our family.

"Kolo told me that it's an amazing time for the club and a very exciting project.

"I love the Premier League and I watch it all the time.

"City did very well to finish fifth last season but I hope we can improve on that by qualifying for the Champions League.

"This is a big club and that has to be our first objective and then we have to look at winning championships as well."

City have also signed David Silva from Valencia for £24m and £11m Hamburg defender Jerome, and are still aiming to complete a £25m deal to buy England midfielder James Milner from Aston Villa.

But it is the details of Toure's mega-contract which will send shockwaves through football.

After lengthy talks with Barcelona and Toure's agent Dimitri Seluk at the end of the season, Cook finally made his offer in the week before the start of the World Cup.

City's in-house lawyer Simon Cliff, appointed from Shearman and Sterling in April 2009 and previously a consultant for Sheikh Mansour, helped mastermind the extraordinary deal.

History

Toure made just 13 starts for Barcelona in all competitions last season after losing his place to Spanish World Cup star Sergi Busquets and completed 90 minutes just nine times.

But now he will become the highest-paid player in the history of the Premier League.

Toure will earn a basic £5.75m a year AFTER tax, meaning he will take home £110,500 a week.

A trifle excessive perhaps for a player who has never played a full league season for any of his previous clubs.

And a trifle excessive perhaps for a Barca substitute who manager Pep Guardiola told was surplus to requirements at the Nou Camp.

Granted, Toure was outstanding in Barca's 2009 Champions League final victory over Manchester United in Rome.

But, incredibly, City believe his arrival suddenly turns them into major players and are convinced fans will all soon be wearing City shirts emblazoned with Toure's name on the back.

And, despite having four defensive midfielders on the books in Gareth Barry, Vincent Kompany, Nigel de Jong and Patrick Vieira, City still felt the need for a fifth.

The figures went through the roof just as Seluk was threatening to pull the plug on the entire deal.

Cook held several meetings in Barcelona with Seluk, along with football administrator Brian Marwood and various other City officials.

During City's amazing bid for Toure, they also offered to use their considerable "muscle" with sportwear manufacturers Nike and Umbro to get the midfielder a better boot deal.

Italian coach Mancini now has to somehow shoe-horn Toure into City's bulging team.

And Mancini has been left in no doubt by Cook they want Premier League title glory this season.

As I have said before, Neil Ashton and the NOTW have a personal vendetta towards City since we sued them (and won) about them printing lies about us).

Unfortunately for them, they have done it again, in the bolded areas, and I can prove it. This is important, as despite everybody at City saying that Toure is on £160k a week before tax and after bonuses, the fans have somehow being left with the impression that the lad is on £220k a week.

1. The article states that Toure had his medical in Manchester. That is verifiably false. We can prove this, as fortunately, mcfc.co.uk cameras were at Toure's medical, in Spain and it is on the OS. You can tell it's Spain purely because of all of the Spanish signs on the door, and the fact that the nurse is speaking Spanish.

2. He states that Toure made 13 starts for Barcelona, when he made 26 (and more coming from the bench).

3. He states that Barcelona didn't want him, but both the chairman and the manager are quoted as saying that they wanted to keep him.

4. He states that we have 4 DMs in Barry, Kompany, De Jong and Viera. Now, sorry to break this to him, but Kompany is a CB. I know that, because with the exception of one or two games a couple of season ago, he's always played CB for City. I don't need to tell Villa fans that Barry isn't a DM, but a box to boxer. That leaves us with two by my count, and one of them is older than the Bible.

5. How exactly Man City can exert pressure on somebody who pays us money, I'm not sure, and to be honest I find unrealistic that we can demand that Nike give him a better deal (as that's who he is signed with, I have no idea where the Umbro thing has come from).

Every single forum in the world believes that the papers have a vendetta against them, and it is mostly false. Journalists write things that are purposefully inflammatory, yet this stuff with the NOTW/Sun and City is just ridiculous. I imagine that we will be taking legal action over this story as well, it's about time that we cracked down on these idiot journalists.

Y'know, that Brian Wooly fellow today blamed City for ruining the English football team, despite us having 5 England internationals in our team, having 36 Academy graduates in the last ten years, and the England U20 first team is over 50% City players who have all come through our ranks.

This talk about us ruining football is just stupid. As I have said in the past, I don't feel the need to exaggerate because the truth is bad enough. What we as a club are doing, is levelling the playing field with the Big Four, after they have had years of regular investment due to the CL, which afforded them the best players, and the highest wages. We are doing this in a tiny period of time, whereas they stretch it out over seasons.

Is it fair? Not even a bit.

This whole thing about rich owners is just crap, and doesn't make a lick of sense. The problem is the fact that the CL generates so much money that the top four effectively have a monopoly that cannot be broken unless you spend ridiculous money AND one of them has a bad season.

I don't pretend to know the answer; CL TV money can't be spread across the whole league as it is run by UEFA and not the Premier League. Maybe the Prem could actually drop the prize money for finishing in the top four to reflect the differences in income? Probably another silly idea.

I may not know the answers to it, but I can certainly identify the root problems. Billionaire owners level the playing field between the top four and those without it. Unfortunately, it also creates a new slant on nnon-top four, non-billionaire owners. We need to fix the thing that has made the game so monopolised, which is the CL, before we can fix the billionaire problem.

[AngelGabriel]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3047228/Manchester-Citys-20million-raid-for-Didier-Drogba.html

Yup they want Drogba, and if ruddy Yaya Toure is on 220K a week.

[fran_villa]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3047228/Manchester-Citys-20million-raid-for-Didier-Drogba.html

Yup they want Drogba, and if ruddy Yaya Toure is on 220K a week.

he's 32 :shock: ,for 20m?.this game is is really ****.

[lapal_fan]

Yaya Toure is going to single handedly get England out of a recession with all the tax he will be paying

All that for a player who basically has the same skill as Gareth Barry. I can cope with that

[Qwpzxjor1]

Is Yaya Toure's 220k a week before or after tax? If it's before tax then it's only £110,000 a week which is just about right for a high level player (whether he's worthy of coming into that bracket is a different argument). Given the media's quest for jaw-dropping 'what the ****?' stories, I would guess this is before tax so they can print the highest number possible.

£110,000 a week in tax? That'll pay for an entire hospital ward.

On the Drogba thing: I wonder how Adabeyor feels about Man City lining up another target man, who is better than he is.

[BOF]

I think I read somewhere that it might be after tax.

[Stevo985]

This is a dream come true

I **** bet it is.

Do they even NEED to pay him this much? I mean it's not like he's his amazing world class player? I could understand (to a degree) if they'd just signed C Ronaldo and were paying him that much. but Yaya Toure?

I'm sure he would have come if he was paid less, surely?

[sir_gary_cahill]

On the Drogba thing: I wonder how Adabeyor feels about Man City lining up another target man, who is better than he is.

As I've said before, we should go for Adebayor, City clearly don't fancy him

[Qwpzxjor1]

I think I read somewhere that it might be after tax.

Holy.

****.

Shite.

Well, that's 220,000 a week paid in tax then. That'll pay for two hospital wards!

[Stevo985]

If we want to spend 100 grand a week on another lazy, potentially disruptive striker then yeh we should.

Personally I think we'd be better off looking elsewhere.

[Qwpzxjor1]

No no no no NO! to Adebeyor.

He'd never come here anyway, but his wage demands would cripple us, and he's not even that good.

I don't think there's anything in this Drogba story anyway!

[Shillzz]

I would personally take Adebayor. I also think he'd be our best player, but I dont think it would happen.