VMC Paper Talk: Week 6

Well, what a week this has turned out to be. James Milner finally completed one of the most protracted transfer moves of the season, joining City in a £16m deal with Stephen Ireland heading in the opposite direction.

The egg-headed midfield maestro had a lot to say for himself upon his arrival at Villa Park, deriding his former club about pretty much anything and everything he could think of. Anyone would think that City is ruining football!

The Hare Krishna look-a-like also found the time to tell everyone what an amazing footballer he is, before helping Villa to lose 6-0 against newly promoted Newcastle United on his debut.


Bad karma?

The other major transfer news this week was the fact that the fleet footed Craig Bellamy moved down to the second tier of football to play with his hometown club, Cardiff City. The move sent shockwaves throughout both the Premier League and the Championship, while Motherwell also felt the blast and Harry Redknapp cried himself to sleep.

The fiery Welshman could certainly teach Stephen Ireland a thing or two about class, the subject of one of the bitter City rejects` rants.

Bellers was in scintillating form last season, helping City to their highest ever premier league finish with 10 goals to his name. Despite the hacks attempts to discredit both City and Craig with reports that he had had a major bust up with Mancini and had subsequently been banned from Carrington, this was found to be the work of fiction, while the fan favourite himself praised both City`s hierarchy and the club, wishing them good luck for the season ahead.

Bellamy helped his new club overcome Doncaster Rovers 4-0 at the weekend, bagging himself a debut goal and two assists.

Another City winger to find himself out in the cold was Vladimir Weiss, not least because he has moved to Scotland.

Left out of Mancini`s 25-man squad, the tricky winger was inundated with loan requests, favouring Scottish champions Rangers over local rivals Celtic and German giants Stuttgart.

Finally I leave you with the rumour that Robinho is set to follow in the footsteps of Darius Vassel, Elano Blumer, Nicolas Anelka and Jo, to ply his trade in Turkey with either Fenerbahce or Besiktas in a £26m deal.

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