Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given ponders future, Tevez happy under Mancini
Manchester City goalkeeper, Shay Given, is reported to be uncertain about his future at the Eastlands. The goalkeeper is scheduled to meet manager, Roberto Mancini, in the near future to discuss his prospects for the comings season. The keeper is expected to meet the manager if he finds himself on the substitute bench.
There is currently a battle for the number one shirt at Manchester City. The extremely talented young English goalkeeper, Joe Hart, is back in the ranks with City following an impressive season with Birmingham last season. The 23-year old has not been permitted to go out on loan by the manager, with Mancini claiming that both of the keepers are part of his plans for the coming season. With Hart not being loaned out, there are serious questions on the mind of Given, who was the obvious first choice keeper for City last season. The former Newcastle United man would need to have a serious talk with the manager should he be benched in the season opener against Tottenham Hotspurs.
The Irishman has been strongly linked to a move with third place Arsenal and would need to get his future sorted before the transfer window ends. The keeper stated that he hoped to start in the Spurs match but expected much speculation owing to the undeniable quality of Joe Hart. The keeper added that the ball was in the manager’s court and whosoever starts in the opener would be an obvious choice in all the big games.
Given made it absolutely clear that if he doesn’t start in the opener, he would have a talk with the club in the coming week to discuss the future, and expected Hart to do the same as both of them deserve to play. Given claimed, he would want to remain with City, declaring it to be an ambitious club with incredible owners. He added that he loves to play for the club and he wished to remain here. If however, he doesn’t start, the transfer window would still be open and he could move elsewhere. The keeper admitted that he would prefer a loan move rather than a transfer and come back later to see what the situation is. The 34-year old admitted he needs more playing time owing to his age and doesn’t have that many years left in his career. The keeper spent 12 years with Newcastle United previously but left the club owing to its relegation from the premier league club. With City, Given has made 50 appearances last season and was phenomenal in between the sticks. The keeper stopped the all important Frank Lampard penalty in a match against Chelsea. Lampard hadn’t missed a penalty in over three and a half years and Given managed to stop the penalty without much difficulty.
Moving on, Manchester City striker, Carlos Tevez praised manager Roberto Mancini for getting the player into his full form and expects the Italian to stay with the club for years to come. It is now time to for Mancini to deliver after spending more than 80 million pounds in buying players this summer. David Silva, Jerome Boateng, Yaya Toure and Aleksander Kolarov have all joined an already star studded City squad and Mancini would now be looking to utilize the stardom to win trophies. Manchester City came very close to finishing 4th in the league last season, but was defeated by the eventual fourth spot winners, Tottenham Hotspurs, in the dying moments of the season.
Reports have claimed that the relationship between Mancini and Tevez haven’t been so good lately, but the Argentine striker hailed the coach for bringing the best out of him. The striker scored 29 times in 40 appearances for City last season and was the mainstay behind the Eastlands finishing 5th last season. Manchester City play Tottenham Hotspurs in their season opener on Saturday and are aiming for the title. If not, they would be hoping to at least finish in the top four, in order to play Champions league football next season.
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