Manchester City confident of sealing £32m deal for Eliaquim Mangala

Manchester City are hopeful of finally landing Porto’s Eliaquim Mangala for around £32m, in what will be the champions’ most expensive signing of the summer window.
While the club is not expecting to announce the transfer in the next 48 hours, there is a quiet confidence the France central defender will

Manuel Pellegrini fully expects his Manchester City side to win title

A bullish Manuel Pellegrini has said he expects to win the Premier League title after a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa took Manchester City two points clear of Liverpool going into Sunday's final game of the season, the visit of West Ham United.
Two goals from Edin Dzeko plus one apiece from Stevan Jovetic and Yaya Touré, all in the second half, swept City to 100 league goals for the season, with Pellegrini aiming what sounded like a barb at Chelsea's José Mourinho by claiming he has chosen creative football for his team.
While the implication of this was that the Portuguese utilises a more negative approach for Chelsea. "Of course I expect to win the title because now we are top of the table," Pellegrini said. "It is the last game. Win the next game and we can win the title."
In reality, given City's goal-difference advantage of 13 over Liverpool, a point would suffice.
Pellegrini pointed out that before victory City had led the standings for only 11 days. "It is a strange season, maybe, because we were never top of the table," he said. "Everyone said we were favourites but we were nine points behind Liverpool and eight

Chelsea critics are just jealous of José Mourinho, says André Schürrle

André Schürrle has claimed "everybody" at Chelsea believes they can win a Champions League and Premier League double, this season and critics of José Mourinho's tactics are simply jealous of his success.
Chelsea are two points behind the league leaders, Liverpool, following Sunday's 2-0 win at Anfield and take a goalless draw into the Champions League semi-final second leg against Atlético Madrid at Stamford Bridge. Mourinho, true to form, rubbished Chelsea's Premier League title prospects in the aftermath of their Liverpool victory but Schürrle suggested an opposing view is held inside the club's Cobham training ground. The Germany international also

Michel Platini: 'No clubs to be excluded from Europe for breaching FFP rules'

No clubs will be kicked out of European competition next season for breaking financial fair play rules, UEFA president Michel Platini said in an interview on Thursday.
Uefa's financial fair play (FFP) policy, designed to stop clubs spending more than they earn, comes into effect next season with a maximum penalty of exclusion from European competition for those failing to comply.
"In effect, the first decisions will be announced at the

Luis Suárez says Liverpool have surprised even themselves with title run

Luis Suárez has admitted Liverpool are punching above their weight to be competing for the title against big-spending clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City and acknowledged that this season has surpassed all of his expectations.
After a season that began with him serving a 10-match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic and having a transfer request rejected, the Uruguayan goes into Sunday's crucial meeting with Chelsea at Anfield as the favourite to win the Professional Footballers' Association player of the

Manchester City offer Arsenal's Bacary Sagna three-year deal

Bacary Sagna has been offered a three-year deal by Manchester City and he will consider whether to become the latest Arsenal player to move between the clubs in the summer. The 31-year-old full-back remains locked in contractual stand-off with Arsenal, the club he joined in 2007 and his current terms are set to expire in June, making him a free agent.
Arsène Wenger, the manager, has indicated a readiness to break the club's general policy of granting only one-year extensions to players in their thirties and he is extremely keen for Sagna to stay. The France international has

Manchester City's Yaya Touré hits hat-trick in romp over Fulham

No slip-up, no contest and almost no sweat. Manchester City prepared for Tuesday's trip to Old Trafford with an exercise in ruthless efficiency as Yaya Touré led a rout of Fulham with his first hat-trick in English football. Felix Magath was left incensed at a lack of fight from the Premier League's bottom club. On this form, his men look condemned. Manuel Pellegrini's team look in control.
City's biggest league win since November resembled a training session for the final half hour as they prised apart Fulham without performing close to their fluent, commanding best. Their manager withdrew the outstanding Touré, who now has 20 goals for the season, David Silva and Samir Nasri in the closing stages in readiness for the Manchester derby, the first of two testing away games next week that can shape City's attempt to