Shay Given will not be sold cheap says Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini, the Italian manager of Manchester City has said that even though Shay Given is not his first choice as the goalkeeper, he will still not sell him off for cheap.
Shay Given who moved to Manchester city from Newcastle has been out of favour this season, and will make his first appearance for the club in the midweek Carling Cup tie against West Brom. This comes just 3 days after the club
manager had confirmed that Given would be sold in January transfer window.
Joe Hart has been the number one goalkeeper for Manchester City this season, and Given has been forced to sit on the bench. There was a lot of talk about Given making his way out of East Lands this season, but till the end of the
transfer window no deal with any other club could be established. But now it has been confirmed by the club that in the winter transfer window the Irish international will be allowed to make a move.
Already there had been huge speculations that his former club Newcastle will be interested in bringing him back to St James Park. Club manager Chris Hughton has already said that he has no plans of signing Given on loan following
an injury to their number one keeper Steve Harper.
Roberto Mancini has made it clear that even though Given is not getting enough games, there is no chance that the club would let him go for cheap. He added that any club that is interested will have to come up with substantial
funds to sign him.
"Shay is an important player and he will cost someone a lot of money," said the City boss.
"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."
There were also reports that Mancini had some unpleasant exchanges with his Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor. The manager however denied any such reports and said that they are all media constructed rumours.
"It is false that I fought in the dressing room or the pitch with Emmanuel Adebayor," said Mancini.
"We discussed his situation that is all."
Manchester City did make it to the semi finals of the Carling cup last season, but fell short in the 2 legged tie against the age old City rivals Manchester United. Mancini said that he is determined to go all the way and end the
35 year old drought of silverware at East lands.
However the former Inter Milan manager would be short handed in the midweek tie, due to the long injury list in the squad that has been a problem for him.
Jerome Boateng his new signing and former Everton man Joleon Lescott are both sidelined. He will also have the big match on Saturday against Chelsea on the back of his mind, so he will not risk too many players from his first team.
Mancini said: "We have a lot of problems at the moment with certain players injured," he said.
"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."
Manchester City spent 130 million pounds this summer in the transfer market, and plenty big household names have made their way to the City of Manchester Stadium. With big names comes a big expectation. City is expected to at least
finish 4th and many dub them as serious title challengers to Chelsea and Manchester United. The manager however has so far remained calm over the expectations from the club and said that top 4 is his main target, and if the club can go a step further
and challenge the top 2 then it will be even better. Mancini added that if the club makes it to the Champions League next season, it will give his team exposure to the best clubs in Europe and will help them grow and become serious title contenders.
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