Transfer Gossip

What The Media Says, formerly known as What The Papers Say!

Or maybe you prefer "a pinch and a punch" to welcome a new month. A quick trawl through football cyberspace reveals plenty of pinching, although most websites are happy to acknowledge the source of their story.
Tribalfootball.com reckons that "City could use Emmanuel Adebayor as a bargaining chip in talks for Real Madrid star Kaka." Or rather, they confess they've seen the speculation in the Daily Mail and, er, repeated it.
Here's the gist of their re-write: "Chelsea and City have been put on red alert after it emerged Real Madrid are ready to sell Kaka. The Brazil international has failed to impress at the Bernabeu since arriving in a £58million deal from AC Milan in 2009."
They recall the Blues' earlier bid to sign the player and suggest: "With Roberto Mancini's side now on course for Champions League football next season, Kaka could be tempted to join them if offered the chance. Adebayor, currently on loan at Real from City, could be used as a makeweight in any deal."
Right then. What else can they tell us at Tribal? Here's one. It seems they've discovered that "Micah Richards is weighing up his future at Manchester City." Do continue, chaps ...
"The Daily Mail" - aaah - "says Richards' advisors have alerted a number of Barclays Premier League clubs to the player's potential availability in the summer.
"Richards has played regularly this season, featuring in 20 of their 41 games. But his long-term future is unclear with manager Roberto Mancini looking at Barcelona star Dani Alves and Ajax full-back Gregory van der Wiel as potential replacements for Richards."
Moving swiftly on, let's check out FIFA.com, a drab affair that could do with a bit of colour and imagination injecting. They run with the post-match quotes from Gareth Barry that you heard first on mcfc.co.uk.
The story goes: "Gareth Barry concedes Manchester City are now focusing on cup success after falling away in the Premier League title race.
"City host Aston Villa in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday, with the chance to earn a place in the quarter-finals against either Everton or Reading. City are also through to the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League.
"England midfielder Barry admits that City are now targeting a top-four finish, which would take them into the UEFA Champions League for the first time, and success in the FA Cup and the Europa League."
They quote GarBar: "Of course the cups are becoming more important for us. It's a big game for us and we've got the incentive of another home tie in the quarter-finals. If we get through those two you never know, and you're getting close to Wembley. Cup competitions have been important to us all season."
Over at bbc.co.uk, they go with former City boss Kevin Keegan's assertion that the Premier League is a "two-horse race" between Manchester United and Arsenal after City drew 1-1 with Fulham.
And at skysports.com, the Blues line is that "Roberto Mancini admits the team is struggling without Adam Johnson, who is set to be out for another month."
Over on the prints, David Anderson's take on the Barry Fulham quotes is proper Mirror stuff. He has Gareth warning that City must become more ruthless to finish top.
He quotes the midfielder: “If you’re going to challenge for the title, you’re going to have to win games like this at home. The top teams over the years eventually break teams down, but that didn’t look like happening for us."