Pearce Out to Bag a Bargain
Chris Bailey
CITY'S dramatic end-of-season slump has made boss Stuart Pearce more determined
than ever to be busy in the transfer market this summer.
But unless the Blues' boss unloads either, or both, of his contract hold-outs
- midfielder Joey Barton and skipper Sylvain Distin - then he is likely to be
shopping in the bargain basement.
Whatever ammunition he has at his disposal, and there will be some leeway in
the wages budget for Bosman free transfers and loans, Pearce knows he simply
has to be more active in the window than he was last summer, when the only new
faces to arrive were strikers Darius Vassell and Andy Cole.
It is that area of the pitch, and particularly central midfield, that worries
the manager the most.
He is on the look out for more firepower after Bradley Wright-Phillips failed
to make the anticipated breakthrough.
The youngster may well be loaned out to further his experience at the start of
next term and in the meantime Pearce will look to bring in at least one more
experienced front-runner to complement Georgios Samaras, Cole and Vassell.
Favourite
The fact that only veteran Cole has managed to hit 10 goals this season has been
a major factor in the Blues' slide from the top six.
Of the midfielders, only Barton's half-dozen has been a significant contribution.
Former terrace favourite Paul Dickov, who has seemingly improved with age in
the top flight, has already been targeted and he will only be one of several
on the manager's wish-list.
Pearce will watch closely to see what happens to self-confessed Andy Cole fan
Jason Roberts at Wigan, who has 12 months left on his contract at the JJB, and
the Blues are already being linked with South African Benni McCarthy.
Currently with Porto in Portugal, McCarthy is seemingly mentioned alongside City's
name every summer, most notably in Kevin Keegan's first season in charge when
a deal was close.
Now 28, the nomadic McCarthy would like to play in the Premiership but would
have to modify his wage demands. In any case the asking price is £3m and
the deal is, at present, a no-goer.
Pearce, who will be looking for at least £4m for Barton and 50 per cent
more than that for Distin should they fail to be persuaded to stay beyond the
end of this season. The most high-profile casualty of his much needed re-vamp
will be French defender David Sommeil.
He is likely to go back to France after clocking up a half- century of appearances.
Bought for a large investment of £3.5m he will go for nothing - a trend
that Pearce is fiercely determined to reverse in future transfer dealings.
Agreement
Geert de Vlieger and Mikkel Bischoff are two others certain to go and it is likely
that Pearce will opt to keep only one of his current loan signings Albert Riera
and Kiki Musampa.
It is more likely that Riera stays though the Blues will not pay Espanyol £3m
and are likely to seek a 12-month loan agreement with the La Liga side.
Another whose future is yet to be decided is that of Jihai Sun, who has so far
managed 93 outings in a Blues' stay that has covered at least half-a-dozen positions.
The 28-year-old has already said that he would like to stay in England before
returning home to end his career and his adaptability and relatively low wages
may see him get another season.
Pearce's midfield problems may not be so easy to solve, though reports in Italy
suggest that the Blues are continuing to track Lazio's French international midfielder
Ousmane Dabo.
However, if Pearce does get his hands on some cash, he will quickly renew his
interest in Fulham's expensive midfielder Steed Malbranque and add vigour to
his chase of Real Madrid's hard man Thomas Gravesen.
Another casualty could be full-back Danny Mills, although with three years left
on his contract and big wages to take into consideration, it is not clear how
many clubs would be rushing to buy the former Leeds and Norwich man, who has
recently lost his place as first choice.
Although he has pledged to battle for his place, Mills, who will be a BBC Radio
summariser at the World Cup in June, has been less than pleased to find himself
behind teenager Micah Richards in the pecking order.
