The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Manchester City

  • Guardiola seeks to end Man City winless run

    Guardiola seeks to end Man City winless run

    MANCHESTER City boss Pep Guardiola is determined to return to winning ways against Southampton, as he looks to avoid going five games without a victory.

    After a sparkling start to life under Guardiola, City’s season has faltered somewhat and they were comprehensively outplayed by Barcelona as they fell to a 4-0 defeat in the Champions League on Wednesday.

    That result came on the back of a home draw against Everton, defeat to Tottenham at White Hart Lane and another draw away at Celtic.

    If City fail to beat Southampton in the Nissan Super Sunday clash at  the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola will equal the worst run of his career.

  • UEFA: Manchester City draw Steaua Bucharest

    UEFA: Manchester City draw Steaua Bucharest

    Manchester City will face Romanian side Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Champions League play-off round, following the draw made on Friday.

    Scottish champions Celtic will meet Israeli side Hapoel Beer Sheva while Irish champions Dundalk have been drawn against Poland’s Legia Warsaw.

    Celtic beat Kazakh side FC Astana in the third qualifying round, while Dundalk were 3-1 aggregate victors over Belarusian side Bate Borisov.

    The two-legged play-off ties will be held on Aug. 16/17 and Aug. 23/24.

    Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has won the Champions League twice as a manager — with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011.

    The Spaniard has lost in the semi-finals of the competition in each of the past four seasons, once with Barca and three times with Bayern Munich.

    Manchester City are looking to compete in the group stages of the competition for the sixth successive season.

    Steaua, who won the European Cup in 1986 and were runners-up in 1989, finished second to Astra Giurgiu in the Romanian top-flight.

    Manchester City’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain said: “It’s going to be a difficult tie, because Steaua are on the up again in Europe and have a lot of talent.’’

    Elsewhere, 2004 winners Porto face a tough tie against Italian side Roma, and 1995 winners Ajax will play Russian side Rostov.

    The winners of the ties will progress to the Champions League group stage while the losers will drop into the Europa League.

     

    Full Draw

    Ludogorets Razgrad (Bulgaria) v FC Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic)

     

    Celtic (Scotland) v Hapoel Beer-Sheva (Israel)

     

    FC Copenhagen (Denmark) v Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus)

     

    Dundalk (Republic of Ireland) v Legia Warsaw (Poland)

     

    Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) v FC Salzburg (Austria)

     

    Steaua Bucharest (Romania) v Manchester City (England)

     

    FC Porto (Portugal) v Roma (Italy)

     

    Ajax (Netherlands) v Rostov (Russia)

     

    Young Boys (Switzerland) v Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany)

     

    Villarreal (Spain) v Monaco (France)

  • Leroy Sane completes Manchester City switch

    Leroy Sane completes Manchester City switch

    Manchester City has confirmed the signing of Schalke winger, Leroy Sane, with the Germany international signing a five-year deal at the Etihad Stadium.

    Sane has been linked with a number of clubs throughout the summer but has opted to move to the Etihad Stadium, the Premier League club parting with a reported £37 million to secure the signature of the 20-year-old.

    Sane, who came through the youth ranks at Schalke, made 57 senior appearances for the club, scoring 13 goals, and was named in Germany’s squad for Euro 2016.

    And the young attacker has now revealed that he cannot wait to begin work under Pep Guardiola as the Premier League season draws near.

    “I feel really good, I’m happy to be here and happy that it has all worked out. Now I can settle here in Manchester and play for City,” Goal quoted the Germany international as saying on Tuesday.

    “One of the reasons I decided to join City was Pep Guardiola; he convinced me to come here and that I can continue to progress. I know I will learn a lot under him and now I can take the next step in my career.

    “I followed Pep at Barcelona and at Bayern where he achieved a lot and worked really well with young players.”

     

  • Champions League ticket a parting gift for Pellegrini – Iheanacho

    Champions League ticket a parting gift for Pellegrini – Iheanacho

    Super Eagles striker, Kelechi Iheanacho, has said Manchester City will do well to secure a UEFA Champions League spot as a parting gift for outgoing manager, Manuel Pellegrini.

    Pellegrini is leaving The Etihad after three years and he will be replaced by Bayern Munich boss, Pep Guardiola, africanFootball.com reports.

    The Chilean coach helped City achieve its best-ever finish in the Champions League this season when the club reached the semi-finals and Iheanacho said the team will fight to beat off the last-day challenge of rivals Manchester United to return to the competition next season.

    Manchester City, on 65 points, needs only a draw at Swansea City to pip United, who host Bournemouth, to the remaining Champions League place on Sunday.

    “Manchester City is a big team who belong to the Champions League,” africanFootball.com quoted Iheanacho as saying in a television interview.

    “The manager has done great and he deserves for us to qualify for the Champions League.”

  • MANchester CITY CONTRACT: Iheanacho demands £7.2m yearly

    MANchester CITY CONTRACT: Iheanacho demands £7.2m yearly

    Manchester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho, wants reward for a stunning 2015/16 season in the shape of a new deal worth £150,000-a-week.

    This translates to £600,000 monthly and a staggering £7.2 million wages.

    The striker’s advisers believes he has earned parity – at least – with teammate Raheem Sterling, on the basis that Iheanacho’s emergence has saved the Blues from having to spend big on a new young frontman this summer.

    They also feel rising-star Iheanacho has proven himself superior to Wilfried Bony, who has flopped since his £28 million move to the Etihad from Swansea 17 months ago.

    Sterling, who signed from Liverpool for a package totalling £49 million last summer, has netted 11 times in his first season with the Mancunian Blues while Bony, who earns £100,000-a-week plus a £20,000-per-game bonus, has managed only eight goals this season and a total of ten in all competitions since being signed in January last year.

    Iheanacho currently earns £15,000-a-week but the www.mirror.co.uk reports that City will offer him an improved contract but want a wrangle over his representation resolved.

    Many of Iheanacho’s goals have come off the bench, which means he already has one of the best goal-per-minute ratio in Europe.

    City are waiting for the outcome of a complaint over his representation that has been lodged with the FA before they can enter negotiations over a new deal.

    United States-based First Eleven Management has represented Iheanacho since he was a schoolboy and advised him over his move to the Etihad in January 2014.

    The outfit says the youngster signed a new representation agreement when he turned 18, but London-based Stellar Group says it is his new adviser.

    City beat Arsenal to the signing of Iheanacho from Nigeria’s Taye Academy two years ago.

    Now a full Nigeria international, he is set to be a big part of new boss Pep Guardiola’s plans next season.

  • Manchester City can still win EPL – Iheanacho

    Manchester City can still win EPL – Iheanacho

    Manchester City now lies six points behind leaders Leicester City in the English Premier League title race, but Nigeria youngster Kelechi Iheanacho has insisted the club could still fight back and win the championship this season.

    Iheanacho came off the bench to score his third EPL goal on Sunday, but it was not enough as City fell 1-2 to title chasers Tottenham Hotspur.

    “We will close the gap (between us and front runners),” africanFootball.com quoted the ex- Flying Eagles star as saying to Manchester City Television.

    “We were very disappointed we lost, no one is happy, but we will come back stronger.

    “We will put this defeat behind us and keep going for the next games. We will work hard and concentrate for every game.”

     

  • Nasri hopes to end career at Manchester City

    Nasri hopes to end career at Manchester City

    Samir Nasri hopes to end his career at Manchester City despite the club replacing the injury plagued midfielder with young striker Kelechi Iheanacho in their Champions League squad for the knockout rounds earlier this month.

    The report said that Nasri was initially expected to miss the rest of the season with a thigh injury he picked up in October 2015, but the France international said last month that he hoped to return to action by the end of March.

    “There are so many exciting things happening here. You never know what will happen in football, but it would be a pleasure to finish my career at City,” Nasri told the club’s website (www.mcfc.co.uk).

    The former Arsenal man, who has scored one goal in eight appearances this season, said he was looking forward to rekindling his ‘special connection’ with midfield duo David Silva and Yaya Toure upon his return.

    City, who have failed to win back-to-back Premier League games since October, have slipped to fourth in the table and will hope to get their title charge back on track when they host second-placed Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

     

  • Guardiola agrees to join Manchester City

    Guardiola agrees to join Manchester City

    Outgoing Bayern Munich handler, Pep Guardiola, has agreed a three-year contract to become Manchester City manager in the summer.

    The 45-year-old will replace Manuel Pellegrini, who will leave on June 30, the BBC reports.

    A statement from City said Chilean Pellegrini, 62, was “fully supportive” of the announcement being made.

    The club said negotiations with former Barcelona coach Guardiola had been “a recommencement of discussions that were curtailed in 2012.”

    Roberto Mancini was City boss at the time, and led them to the domestic title that year.

    Pellegrini succeeded the Italian in 2013 and took the club to a Premier League and League Cup double the following season.

    He has won 64 of his 99 Premier League games as a manager, a record only eclipsed by Jose Mourinho, who won 73 of his opening 99 league matches as Chelsea boss.

    City could yet win four trophies under Pellegrini this season.

    The team is already through to the final of the League Cup and lies second in the league behind Leicester City.

     

  • Iheanacho gets jersey number at Manchester City

    Iheanacho gets jersey number at Manchester City

    English Premier League side, Manchester City, has assigned jersey numbers to its squad for the 2015 – 2016 season.

    The former English champions confirmed that Nigeria youth international, Kelechi Iheanacho, will feature in the first team alongside top stars such as Sergio Aguero, Yayah Toure, David Silva and Samir Nasri, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

    Iheanacho has been assigned the number 72 shirt by Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini.

    He is expected to make his EPL debut against West Bromwich Albion on Monday.

     

  • Agents demand £4m for Eaglets star

    Agents demand £4m for Eaglets star

    Agents have asked Manchester City to fork out a staggering four million pounds for Nigeria U-17 skipper Kelechi Nwakali, africanFootball.com reports.

    Highly-rated Nwakali recently trained with City in England with a view to signing a pre-contract agreement with the former English champions.

    However, africanFootball.com gathered that what stalled the transfer of the Eaglets star to Ettihad was the staggering sum of four million pounds the agents working for the youngster tabled before City.

    “The agents of Kelechi want four million pounds for the player. That was the reason talks have stalled,” a top official told africanFootball.com.

    Kelechi’s older brother and Flying Eagles ace, Chidiebere, is believed to have cost Manchester City over a million pounds.