Shay Given won’t go cheap, says Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has issued a warning that any potential buyers of goalkeeper Shay Given would need to pay a hefty amount for his services.
Shay Given had a good first season at the Eastlands last year but lost out the first team spot to returning youngster Joe Hart, who managed to keep 7 straight clean sheets in his loan term at Birmingham. At the age of 34, Given now looks for first team opportunities
elsewhere and may well be handed his first start of the season in the Carling Cup match at West Bromwich Albion. Manager Roberto Mancini has only recently changed his stance regarding Shay Given, stating that the Republic of Ireland International would be
up for sale when the transfer window re-opens in January. Given spent over 12 years at Newcastle United before joining Manchester City last season when the Magpies were relegated. The highlight of the season for Given last year was when he ended Frank Lampard’s
3 year penalty scoring record, which in turn decided the match for the Blues.
Newcastle United boss, Chris Hughton, has already played down any speculations signalling towards an emotional return of Given to St James Park on emergency loan, owing to a shock injury sustained to first choice goal keeper Steve Harper. Owing to this,
Mancini has issued a statement that Given is still needed at City and will not be sold out without a big offer on the table for the 34 year old shot stopper.
"Shay is an important player and he will cost someone a lot of money. I said Shay could leave the club if he wants and we have a good option but if he stayed it would be OK for me.", claimed Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini.
Also, the manager has played down any talks between a possible fight between him and 25 million pound forward Emmanuel Adebayor, as according to reports, the Togo International spat on the Italian in a dressing room argument.
The manager claimed that any reports suggesting such a fight were all false and that he had not been in any fight with Adebayor both in the dressing room and on the pitch. The manager added that they both had a discussion regarding the player’s situation
but nothing explosive happened as suggested by reports in the media. Manchester City managed to reach the final four of the Carling Cup last season, but lost to arch Rivals Manchester United on aggregate in both legs.
Mancini now aims to finally put an end to the club’s 34 year trophy slack by winning the Carling Cup this season. however, his side may face a tough encounter at West Brom, owing to a never ending injury list. Joleon Lescott joins newly signed Jerome Boateng
on the sidelines. Fresher bodies would also be needed to face the seemingly unstoppable Chelsea when the Champions travel to Manchester Stadium on Saturday.
"We have a lot of problems at the moment with certain players injured. Also, we must change maybe seven players. If not it will be impossible for them to play against Chelsea because it is a lunchtime game on Saturday and they don't have time to recover”,
confirmed former Inter Milan manager.
The manager would be delighted by the form of star striker Carlos Tevez, who is on a roll. Since his ascend to the Captain’s role, Tevez has produced some match winning performances, including City’s weekend 2-0 win over the Wolves, where Tevez scored the
first and made the second to help his side extract all 3 points from their away trip to Wolverhampton.
Tags: