Manchester City will smash their own British record transfer to land Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery. City, who paid £32million to land Robinho from Real Madrid, will top that with a £35m swoop for Ribery according to British media reports.
City hoped to land Ribery, Footballer of the Year in France and Germany, for between £20-25m but his value has soared as he is also wanted by Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.
Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness was quoted as saying:
‘‘Franck is on a contract without clauses for two more years and he enjoys it here. ‘A lack of European trophies could turn his thoughts to a move but we will try with all our might to keep him. If we hold firm until the transfer window closes we could even try to sign him for longer than his current deal.”
After signing Ribert, Hughes will turn his attention back to Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz. City have had five offers rejected for the Paraguay striker in 12 months but Cruz has a £17 million release clause in the contract that comes into effect in June so expect City’s bid to trigger it.
One other forward being linked with Man City is Barcelona star Thierry Henry. Henry who whose contract expires in 2011 appears to be interested in moving back to the Premier League and has a £10 million price tag.
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