Manchester City star player Carlos Tevez might be doubtful for the all-important match against Manchester United next weekend.
The Argentina star tweaked his knee during World Cup duty with his country last weekend and has already been ruled out of Manchester City’s clash with Arsenal on Saturday.
Early indications are Tevez will also sit out the Old Trafford encounter with United on September 20.
Tevez is desperate to play against his former club, having assumed cult hero status at City due to his bitter departure from United.
And Hughes will give the South American every opportunity.
“The Argentine medical people said it would be two or three weeks,” said the City boss.
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Manchester City have completed the signing of Joleon Lescott from Everton on a five year contractual basis.
After having two bids rejected, City agreed a fee with the Merseyside club over the weekend.
Lescott, 27, passed a medical on Monday and finally tied up the transfer to Eastlands late on Tuesday night.
“I am absolutely delighted to welcome Joleon to Manchester City. He is an England international who has proved his Premier League ability during his time at Everton,” City manager Mark Hughes told the club’s website (www.mcfc.co.uk).
“In bringing Joleon to the Club I feel we have recruited a defender of the very highest quality.
“He can play in a number of defensive positions, and I’m positive he will make a significant impact for us.”
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Joleon Lescott is ready for his medical with Manchester City, but Everton manager David Moyes has criticized the Eastlands club, bankrolled by Abu Dhabi’s multi-millionaire Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, for not preparing to pay what he thought was the going rate from the outset.
The England international is expected to undergo a medical on Monday after City finally came up with a bid which met the Merseysiders’ valuation of the player. Having rejected two previous offers – the first about £18million – Everton are reported to have accepted £24million from City for Lescott.
Asked if the Lescott deal was well advanced the Everton boss said: “If they (City) say they are quite far on I’m sure they are.
“But we shouldn’t have been asked to wait this length of time for an amount of cash we think was the correct value for the player.
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Everton have rejected the offer from Manchester City of £18million for England defender Joleon Lescott.
City contacted their Premier League rivals with an increased bid of £18million for the central defender – but the Toffees have turned down the offer.
Earlier this summer, the Eastlands club had a bid of £15million rejected, with Everton boss David Moyes insisting no player will leave Goodison Park this summer without his approval.
A club statement read: “We can confirm we have received an offer of £18million for Joleon Lescott from Manchester City and that offer has been rejected outright.”
Everton signed Lescott from Wolves in 2006 and the player has gone on to become a regular in both the Blues’ starting XI and the England national squad.
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England and Chelsea captain John Terry stated on Sunday that leaving Chelsea was never a possibility and that he is fully committed to the club.
Terry had been a target for Manchester City, with local media speculating that they had offered him a salary of £200 000 per week after making a bid of around £30 million.
The 28-year-old centre back and club captain remained silent on the issue despite City manager Mark Hughes regularly confirming his interest and British newspapers ramping up the speculation.
He finally made a statement on the club’s website (www.chelseafc.co.uk.) on Sunday saying: “There has been a lot of speculation recently about my future and I want to clear this up once and for all.
“I am totally committed to Chelsea and always have been.
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A cold Thursday night in Port Elizabeth at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium saw Kaizer Chiefs edge out Orlando Pirates 4 – 3 in a sudden death penalty shootout to reach the final of the Vodacom Challenge.
Amakhosi will play Manchester City in the Challenge final at Loftus on Saturday at 3pm.
It was one of the most dramatic penalty shootouts between the two Soweto giants and had the 30 000-strong crowd on the edge of their seats.
Both goalkeepers, Moeneeb Josephs and Itumeleng Khune, did their best to psyche out their opponents in the shootout. Bucs paid the price by missing three and having one saved. Chiefs missed two and had one penalty saved. The winning penalty was scored by Rooi Thabang.
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Chelsea striker Didier Drogba believes John Terry will turn down a move to rivals Manchester City.
Terry has been linked with a move to Manchester City all summer, despite Chelsea denying that that they are interested in selling their captain.
Terry played the whole match when the Blues won 2-0 over Inter Milan at the Rose Bowl in California this morning.
“He’s our captain and we need him and we know he’s going to stay with us and win more trophies,” Drogba told ESPN.
Drogba added, on facing former boss Jose Mourinho: “It’s always nice to see him, he was a big part of Chelsea’s success and now we’re moving on.
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Manchester City scraped past Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday night in the Vodacom Challenge match held at Durban’s Absa Stadium by beating them 1 – 0.
The only goal of the match came late in injury time of the first half, which was netted by City skipper Stephen Ireland.
City made seven changes from the side that lost 2-0 to Orlando Pirates in Polokwane last Saturday and were given another runaround in the fast-paced opening half by a spirited Amakhosi.
City manager Mark Hughes still left out his two new strikers, Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz, who are still not fully fit. But he did include his new England international midfielder Gareth Barry along with England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips and England right back Wayne Bridge.
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Manchester City manager Mark Hughes can expect another tough Vodacom Challenge clash at Durban’s Absa Stadium on Tuesday night when his star-studded side faces Kaizer Chiefs.
Hughes was speaking after his leg-weary troops were well beaten 2-0 by a lively Orlando Pirates in the opening Challenge match at a packed Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday afternoon.
Bucs’ win added to the celebrations of Nelson Mandela’s 91st birthday and the tenth anniversary of the Challenge.
“I expect more of the same from Chiefs. But this is how it should be,” Hughes said.
“It was a good exercise for us playing a team like Pirates; it was tough and what I expected.
“This is the reason I was keen to come on this tour as we need this type of competition to help prepare in our pre-season.
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Carlos Tevez signed with Manchester City on Tuesday and used his first press conference to criticize Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson.
The 25-year-old, who spent two years at Old Trafford under a lease agreement, said Ferguson had not done enough to persuade him to stay at the champions.
City paid a reported £25.5 million for Tevez whose “economic rights” were owned by agent Kia Joorabchian.
“Alex never called me or sent me any text messages,” Tevez, who signed a five-year contract, said. “The only time he spoke to me was after the match against Roma because we had to discuss me playing for Argentina.
“I don’t think that is the way to treat a player who has been two years at the club.”
Ferguson said on Monday that he had personally tried to contact Tevez in January about extending his stay at United but that the striker had ignored his calls.
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