City ‘To Bid £25m’ for Javi Martinez

Javi Martinez

Manchester City will make a £25million bid for Athletic Bilbao’s Javi Martinez. According to theSunday Mirror, City will put in the bid for the 23-year-old Spain international after being thwarted in their effort to sign AC Milan defender Thiago Silva.

The paper claims that Roberto Mancini was told during his visit to Milan this week that it would cost him £25million plus Pablo Zabaleta for Thiago, but the reality is that the Brazilian defender is at the top of his game and any thoughts Milan have of selling him are outweighed by the fact that they cannot replace him with a player of a similar standard.

As a result, Mancini is set to launch a bid for Martinez but, as we reported on Tuesday , they will face competition from Bayern Munich whose director Christian Nerlinger attended the recent Spanish Cup final between Athletic and Barcelona.

City Looking At Butland

Manchester City are eyeing up a summer bid for Birmingham City goalkeeper Jack Butlandto act as understudy to Joe Hart.

The 19-year-old spent much of the season on loan at League Two side Cheltenham Town and was called up to the England senior squad for the Euro 2012 finals after Norwich’s John Ruddy broke a finger during training.

Butland has been linked with interest from Arsenal although Birmingham boss Chris Hughton has urged the England Under-21 international to stay at St Andrews. The People claims cash-strapped Birmingham will have to sell this summer and may decide to cash in on Butland despite him not having made a senior appearance for the club.

City Linked With Argentine Winger

Manchester City are lining up a £7million bid for Argentine winger Matias Rodriguez. The 26-year-old plays for Chilean side Universidad, who won the Copa Sudamericana, the South American equivalent of the Europa League in December.

Although he is regarded as one of hottest properties in Chilean football Rodriguez has never played in his homeland and has yet to make an international appearance for Argentina, which could cause problems if he has to apply for a work permit to move to City. He moved from Boca Juniors in his homeland to Austrian side LASK Linz before moving to Uruguayan side Nacional where he finally the taste of first-team football in 2008. He then moved on to Univeridad in 2010 and has since made over 70 league appearances for the Chilean side with whom he also won a national title in 2011.

City are also being linked with Newcastle United centre-back Fabricio Coloccini. According toThe People newspaper manager Roberto Mancini sees the 30-year-old for the put-of-favour Kolo Toure.

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