Manchester City

Flood completes move to Cardiff
Manchester City and Republic of Ireland Under-21 right-wing Willo Flood has signed for Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee. The Bluebirds are believed to have negotiated a deal that will cost £200,000 in a series of instalments. The tough-tackling 21-year-old Dubliner is expected to be in the squad for Saturday's season opener at Barnsley. Flood came through the youth system at the Manchester club before signing a professional contract three years ago. He scored on his full Premiership debut in 2004 but failed to establish himself at Manchester City and spent loan spells at Rochdale and Coventry. The move is likely to end Cardiff's interest in Swansea wide midfielder Andy Robinson.

Man City 3-4 Kashima Antlers
Manchester City suffered their first pre-season defeat, going down to Japanese champions Kashima Antlers. City, who are carrying so many injuries that boss Stuart Pearce was forced to start as a substitute, trailed after just 11 minutes and were never ahead. Paul Dickov went close to equalising before Antoine Sibierski levelled, heading in Trevor Sinclair's cross. On the hour City were 3-1 down and goals from Georgios Samaras and Joey Barton were merely a consolation. Samaras' shot from the edge of the area was mis-read by Sogahata on the bumpy pitch and the Japanese goalkeeper allowed the ball to roll past him in embarrassing fashion. But while it gave Pearce's team hope, their rivals soon snuffed it out when Joe Hart flapped at Takuya Nozawa's low shot. Barton, on as a substitute for the injured Claudio Reyna, struck with a fine effort from the edge of the area to reduce the deficit to a solitary goal again, but City were unable to pull level. Reyna went off with an injury to his right ankle and new signing Dietmar Hamann failed to shake off a foot injury from Friday's win over Shanghai Shenhua. Neither Richard Dunne nor Sun Jihai were available for selection due to minor injuries and Ben Thatcher was suspended.

Pompey make move for keeper James
Manchester City have received an approach from Portsmouth for England goalkeeper David James. James did not feature in either of City's pre-season games in Shanghai this week despite travelling to China with the rest of the squad. \"I think they've been in contact with the club,\" Pearce said. He also added City are looking to sign Ajax defender Hatem Trabelsi: \"I think he's a good player and we're speaking to him and his representatives.\"

Portsmouth yet to make James bid
Manchester City are waiting for Portsmouth to make their interest in David James concrete by submitting a formal bid for the England keeper. City confirmed that Pompey boss Harry Redknapp had been in contact to check on the 36-year-old's availability. But a spokesman at Eastlands told Sir Stanley: \"As yet, there has been no bid from Portsmouth for David James.\" James' agent Colin Gordon said: \"He is still a City player and we will wait to see if anything develops.\" The England number two keeper has one year left on his contract at City, who may feel they want to cash in on him. City are likely to seek around £2m for James, who has the offer of a three-year deal on the table at Eastlands. Manager Stuart Pearce's team returned from a pre-season tour of China late on Monday night - where James did not feature in either of City's two games. James was left on the bench as Nicky Weaver played in the first game against Shanghai Shenhua, while Joe Hart was preferred for the second match against Japanese side Kashima Antlers. Redknapp is keen to boost his thin goalkeeping resources. With Jamie Ashdown ruled out of the start of the season because of a thigh injury, the Pompey boss only has 35-year-old Dean Kiely as his other senior option. He is an admirer of James and said: \"I still regard him as the best England goalkeeper.\" Pompey have also been linked with a £4m move for City's French defender Sylvain Distain - but the City spokesman added that there had been no contact between the two clubs.

Trabelsi set to sign for Man City
Hatem Trabelsi is on the verge of completing a move to Manchester City. The right-back, 29, who played for Tunisia at the World Cup, will move in a free deal as his contract with Dutch club Ajax has come to an end. He has been a long-time target of Arsenal and has also been linked with Liverpool and West Ham this summer. City boss Stuart Pearce said on Thursday: \"He has a couple of medical tests still remaining but we should have permanent news on him later on.\" Trabelsi retired from international football after winning the last of his 59 caps at the World Cup - the third in his career. He also helped Tunisia win the African Cup of Nations in 2004. Monaco and Paris St Germain also tracked Trabelsi this summer after he had made it patently clear last season that he would let his contract run out. \"I have been at Ajax for five years,\" he said in December. \"There are more opportunities in England and I think it's time for me to meet my destiny.\"

Keeper James wants Man City exit
England international goalkeeper David James wants to leave Manchester City. James, understudy to Paul Robinson at the summer's World Cup, has been linked with a move to Portsmouth. The 36-year-old's fiancee lives in the south of England and he has told City of his desire to quit the club he joined in a £2m deal in January 2004. Pompey have yet to meet City's valuation for a player who has 34 caps and has previously played for Watford, Liverpool, Aston Villa and West Ham. James is about to enter the final year of his contract and it is believed City are unwilling to match the three-year deal Portsmouth are willing to hand him. \"David has expressed a wish to leave,\" confirmed City manager Stuart Pearce. \"It all depends on whether Portsmouth reach our valuation but in some ways I have to be prepared for the fact he will leave. \"I spoke with him when we were away in China. It is not an issue about Manchester City, there are other reasons why he wants to be in the south.\" Pearce added finding a replacement would become a priority ahead of the new season with Nicky Weaver, Kasper Schmeichal and Joe Hart, a £600,000 summer signing from Shrewsbury, as present back-up to James. The club are interested in Rennes' Swedish keeper Andreas Isaksson and Liverpool's Jerzy Dudek.

Isaksson joins Man City training
Sweden international goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson trained with Manchester City on Monday ahead of completing his £2m move from French club Rennes. City are yet to officially announce the 24-year-old's arrival but the paperwork on his three-year deal is completed. Boss Stuart Pearce told the Manchester Evening News: \"Andreas will train with us today and we'll see how it goes.\" Isaksson arrives as a replacement for David James, who joined Portsmouth last week in a £1.2m deal. Isaksson turned down the chance to add to his international caps in Sweden's friendly against Germany on Wednesday, in order to join up with City. The Swede will begin his quest for a place in the starting line-up when City open their Premiership campaign against champions Chelsea on Sunday. The best thing for me is to be in Manchester and train with my new team-mates Goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson Pearce added: \"He's an international keeper who is only 24 and has played 40-odd times for his country. That's not a bad CV. \"We have had scouting reports going back three or four years on him. When Peter Bonetti was goalkeeping coach here he had a look at him a couple of times.\" Isaksson played in three of Sweden's four World Cup matches this summer. He sat out the first game against Trinidad and Tobago because of concussion but was back between the sticks by the time Sweden played England. After turning down the chance to face Germany in the international friendly, Isaksson said: \"The best thing for me is to be in Manchester and train with my new team-mates. \"It will be significantly better opponents than in the French league and I have to raise myself another level if I want to do well. \"It is a tougher game in the Premier League. The goalkeepers aren't as protected as we are in other leagues and you have to be aware of that. \"But Stuart Pearce believes in me a lot. He and the club seem to know exactly of what they are buying.\"

Isaksson completes Man City move
Sweden international goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson has completed his £2m move to Manchester City. The 24-year-old, who played at the World Cup and has been capped 42 times, joins Stuart Pearce's side from French club Rennes. \"To come to England and play for a club like Manchester City is an honour for me,\" Isaksson told the club website. \"I think the English league is the best in the world. It's tough but I grew up with it on television in Sweden.\" The goalkeeper had been training with City on Monday before finalising the deal on Tuesday. \"I feel good, I have been training for three or four weeks and it should not take too much time to adjust playing here,\" Isaksson added. The Swede arrives as a replacement for David James, who joined Portsmouth last week in a £1.2m deal. Isaksson turned down the chance to add to his international caps in Sweden's friendly against Germany on Wednesday in order to join up with City. He played in three of Sweden's four World Cup matches this summer. After sitting out the first game against Trinidad and Tobago because of concussion he was back between the sticks when Sweden played England.

Man City accept Boro Distin offer
Manchester City have accepted an undisclosed offer from Middlesbrough for French defender Sylvain Distin. The 28-year-old, who signed for City in 2002, is now in talks with the north-east club over personal terms. City boss Stuart Pearce said he was hopeful Distin would sign a new deal, but the player has rejected the offer of a contract extension. Distin has played more than 150 times for City since signing for £4m from Paris Saint-Germain in May 2002. Middlesbrough have earmarked the 28-year-old as a replacement in the centre of defence for Gareth Southgate, who retired as a player after being appointed manager earlier this summer. Newcastle, with whom Distin had a spell on loan before joining City, had also been linked with the defender. City had made it clear that they did not want to lose Distin, who was moving into the final year of his contract. Speaking earlier in the week Pearce said: \"Until people meet our valuation of Sylvain, he will stay where he is, which will only benefit me because he is a good player. \"It would be no skin off my nose if he enters the final year of his contract. I am a football manager, a year is a hell of a long time in football management.\"

Chelsea v Man City
Manchester City new-boy Dietmar Hamann has a foot problem and has joined Andy Cole on the sidelines, with the striker recuperating from a knee injury. Defensive rock Richard Dunne should be fit and Middlesbrough-bound Sylvain Distin will play if still at the club. Manchester City (from): Isaksson, Weaver, Sun Jihai, Onuoha, Richards, Mills, Dunne, Distin, Jordan, Thatcher, Sinclair, Reyna, Dabo, Barton, Vassell, Samaras, Corradi, Dickov, Sturridge.

Chelsea v Man City
William Gallas could figure for Chelsea who start the defence of their title without a host of big-name players. Petr Cech, Robert Huth and Joe Cole are all out, Claude Makelele and Geremi have muscle strains and Michael Ballack is unlikely to overcome his hip injury. Manchester City new-boy Dietmar Hamann has a foot problem and has joined Andy Cole on the sidelines, with the striker recuperating from a knee injury. Richard Dunne should figure and Sylvain Distin will play if still at the club. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chelsea (from): Cudicini, Ferreira, Carvalho, Terry, Bridge, Diarra, Essien, Lampard, Mikel, Robben, Wright-Phillips, Shevchenko, Kalou, Drogba, Smith, Mancienne, Hilario. Manchester City (from): Isaksson, Weaver, Sun Jihai, Onuoha, Richards, Mills, Dunne, Distin, Jordan, Thatcher, Sinclair, Reyna, Dabo, Barton, Vassell, Samaras, Corradi, Dickov, Sturridge. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho: \"I prefer to play competitive matches than friendlies but I only like to go into matches when I feel my team is ready for it. \"That's not the case now. It's a funny situation to prepare a team without training sessions. \"We have new players, yes, but we also lost good players and we will have 15 players for Manchester City.\" Man City midfielder Dietmar Hamann: \"It might not be a bad time to play Chelsea. \"They have a few new players and virtually all of their squad played in the World Cup so they have not had much of a pre-season. \"I don't mind playing them first but it could have been an easier start.\"

Chelsea 3-0 Man City
Chelsea began their bid to win a third successive Premiership title with an easy win over 10-man Manchester City. The visitors were chasing the game from the 11th minute after John Terry headed in Arjen Robben's free-kick. Chelsea doubled their lead on 26 minutes when Nicky Weaver was powerless to stop Frank Lampard's deflected shot. City's miserable day was compounded just past the hour when Bernado Corradi was sent off and Didier Drogba added a third goal with a superb diving header. Corradi's second booking was for a wild lunge at Michael Essien and the Italian was not the only City player to display a lack of discipline. Ben Thatcher was guilty of a needless foul on Robben, which provided Chelsea with the free-kick that led to their first goal. If only City had shown a bit more zeal in attack but they were rarely able to trouble Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini. Chelsea had a host of players missing, including new signing Michael Ballack, but manager Jose Mourinho was still able to name 10 internationals in his team. One of those internationals was Andriy Shevchenko, who - on his league debut for Chelsea - showed some deft touches. But Shevchenko was unable to find the net and it was left to Drogba to show the Ukraine forward how to put the ball in the net when he flung himself at Wayne Bridge's cross to head past Weaver. Chelsea's almost total control of the game stemmed from a couple of first-half goals, provided by two of their England internationals. Terry had marked his first game as England captain with a goal in midweek against Greece and it was not long before he was wheeling away in celebration on his return to club football. Thatcher recklessly tripped Robben near the touchline and the Dutchman's dangerous curling free-kick was flicked past Weaver by Terry. The Manchester City goalkeeper, who last played in a Premiership game back in April 2001 against Everton, was soon to be beaten for a second time. After good work by Robben and Essien, Lampard worked space for a shot, which took a deflection off Richard Dunne to give Weaver no chance of stopping the ball. Two minutes before the interval, Weaver threw himself to his left to push a swerving shot from Essien. With Chelsea in such an omnipotent mood, City were restricted to a few tame shots - one from Trevor Sinclair, another from American Claudio Reyna, while debutant Ousmane Dabo also tried his luck. Just before the hour, City manager Stuart Pearce introduced two substitutes, replacing Georgios Samaras and Dabo with Paul Dickov and Darius Vassell. Having tried to reinvigorate his attack, Pearce soon lost one of his strikers as Corradi, another of City's debutants, saw red. Drogba's goal then served to inflict only more pain on his side. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chelsea: Cudicini, Paulo Ferreira, Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Bridge, Wright-Phillips (Kalou 72), Lampard, Essien, Robben (Diarra 79), Shevchenko, Drogba (Mikel 83). Subs Not Used: Hilario, Mancienne. Booked: Essien. Goals: Terry 11, Lampard 26, Drogba 78. Man City: Weaver, Richards, Distin, Dunne, Thatcher, Sinclair, Barton, Dabo (Vassell 57), Reyna (Ireland 72), Corradi, Samaras (Dickov 57). Subs Not Used: Hart, Danny Mills. Sent Off: Corradi (63). Booked: Dabo, Corradi, Dickov. Att: 41,953 Ref: S Bennett (Kent).

Man City v Portsmouth
Bernardo Corradi is suspended for Manchester City after he was sent off on his Premiership debut on Saturday. Darius Vassell and Paul Dickov could replace him up front. Andreas Isaksson and Dietmar Hamann may be fit but Andy Cole (knee) definitely misses out. Striker Svetoslav Todorov (knee) and midfielder Gary O'Neil are minor doubts for Portsmouth. New signing Kanu is again set to start as a substitute as he has had less than two weeks pre-season training. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Man City (from): Isaksson, Weaver, Hart, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Distin, D Mills, Thatcher, Jordan, Sinclair, Hamann, Barton, Dabo, Reyna, Ireland, Sibierski, Vassell, Samaras, Dickov, Sturridge. Portsmouth (from): James; Johnson, Primus, Campbell, Stefanovic, O'Neil, Mendes, Davis, Taylor, Mwaruwari, Todorov, Kanu, Pamarot, Hughes, O'Brien, Thompson, Wilson, Jordan. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Manchester City goalkeeper Nicky Weaver hopes to keep his place after making his first Premiership start since 2001 in Sunday's 3-0 defeat by Chelsea: \"I was glad to be back but disappointed with the result. I hope I play against Portsmouth too. \"It would have been magnificent to get anything at Chelsea but the important thing is to bounce back. We need to get points on the board.\" Portsmouth defender Matthew Taylor: \"It's going to be a difficult game, they maybe got a bit of a drubbing at Chelsea. \"I'm sure many teams will go there and get a result like that. It's important we go there and approach it correctly. \"I think if we do that we've got a great chance of getting something from the game.\"

Man City 0-0 Portsmouth
Manchester City earned their first point of the season in a match marred by a disgraceful challenge by Ben Thatcher on Portsmouth's Pedro Mendes. Thatcher clattered into Mendes with his forearm at the start of the second half, sending the Portuguese midfielder skidding into the advertising boards. It was the talking point of a turgid draw in which Joey Barton came closest for City with a sidefooted effort. Portsmouth's Matthew Taylor forced a good save from Nicky Weaver. But the limited goalmouth action was overshadowed by Thatcher's challenge which was at odds with a game which rarely flickered into life. The home side were aiming to banish the memory of the 3-0 beating they took at Chelsea on the opening day of the season. Portsmouth, meanwhile, wanted to keep the momentum gained by their hammering of Blackburn by the same score - but there was little danger of either side troubling the scorers during a dour match. Pompey keeper David James was making a quick return to his former club and his first act was to watch Barton's side-footed effort go inches wide. That was as close as either side got in the opening period. Another Barton drive was saved comfortably by James, while Georgios Samaras sent a looping header on to the roof of the net. Portsmouth threatened little and when Gary O'Neil did find some space in the box after Kanu's cross, he made a mess of his volley. If the first half lacked excitement, Thatcher seemed intent on banishing any tameness with his savage challenge on Mendes at the start of the second period. The City defender clattered into Mendes at full speed with his forearm raised, flattening the Portuguese midfielder and sending him flying off the pitch. Mendes played no further part and was stretchered off after lengthy treatment, then taken to hospital. Thatcher, for his part, was extremely fortunate to receive only a yellow card from referee Dermot Gallagher. Portsmouth's sense of injustice was heightened 10 minutes later when City defender Micah Richards went unpunished after the ball apparently struck his arm in the box. The visitors enjoyed more of the game after the break and City keeper Nicky Weaver produced a great save from Matthew Taylor after Pompey's best move of the match. At the other end, substitute Ishmael Miller hammered in a shot which James parried but both sides appeared content to settle for a draw. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stuart Pearce's conference featured an update on Sylvain Distin's possible move to Middlesbrough. Full story Harry Redknapp's post-match news conference was dominated by his thoughts on the Ben Thatcher challenge. Full story -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Man City: Weaver, Richards, Dunne, Distin, Thatcher, Sinclair, Barton, Reyna (Ireland 66), Samaras (Miller 71), Vassell, Dickov. Subs Not Used: Hart, Dabo, Danny Mills. Booked: Sinclair, Thatcher. Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Primus, Campbell, Stefanovic, Taylor, O'Neil, Davis, Pedro Mendes (Hughes 52), Kanu, Mwaruwari (Todorov 65). Subs Not Used: Jordan, Thompson, Pamarot. Booked: Davis. Att: 37,214 Ref: D Gallagher (Oxfordshire).

Pearce sets deadline for Distin
Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce has given skipper Sylvain Distin until Thursday evening to decide whether he wants to move to Middlesbrough. The French defender, 28, is considering a £4.5m move to Teesside although he is yet to agree personal terms. \"If the situation is still the same on Thursday evening, then he will not be leaving as I will not have enough time to bring someone else in,\" said Pearce. \"I've spoken to him about the situation and I believe he wants to stay.\" The transfer window closes on 31 August. Distin has not agreed to a extend his current deal with City, which has one year left to run, but Pearce has previously said he believes the defender will come to the right decision over his future. \"Sylvain has never said he is desperate to get away,\" said Pearce. \"He is a very honest and open-minded lad and, if he had not been in the last year of his contract, we would not have given him the opportunity to speak to Middlesbrough. \"The mere fact he has taken two, three, four days to think about his decision means he knows he probably is not going to a better club than Manchester City.\" Distin has played more than 150 times for City since signing for £4m from Paris Saint-Germain in May 2002. Middlesbrough had earmarked him as a replacement in the centre of defence for Gareth Southgate, who retired as a player after being appointed manager earlier this summer. Newcastle, with whom Distin had a spell on loan before joining City, had also been linked with the defender.

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