CITY won't be letting England back-up keeper David James leave.
The Blues will repel a cheeky é2m move from top-flight new boys Reading who are looking to add some big names to their squad following promotion from the Championship.
James has only recently agreed a one-year extension to his Blues deal and boss Stuart Pearce is keen that his number one sees out next term.
Despite losing his international place to Paul Robinson since signing for City, James has been ultra consistent and was this season voted into the fans' top three in the player of the season awards.
While on the face of it a é2m bid for a player who will be 36 when the new domestic season kicks off seems sound business, any such offer could be a year too soon for City's liking.
Experience
That time will give talented teenagers Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel time to mature.
Hart, the England Under- 19s keeper was snapped up from Shrewsbury for é600,000 last month but Pearce would consider it far from ideal thrusting him into the Premiership.
Schmeichel, too, despite two very successful loan spells at Darlington and then Bury last season, lacks the necessary experience to step into James' boots.
That would leave Nick Weaver and though he proved his fitness with a stint at Sheffield Wednesday he has not started a first team game for two years.
Elsewhere, Dutch midfielder Kiki Musampa looks as though he could be heading for Besiktas in the Turkish League.
And both Wigan and Aston Villa remain in the chase for Danny Mills.
The Blues are said to want a fee of around é500,000.
Is Pearce right to keep hold of Davd James? Have your say.
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James got on my pip a bit towards the end of last season with his casual attitude and his grinning, but the fact remains he is still one of the best goalies in the Premiership and no way should we sell him. Weaver is error prone and injury prone, and Kasper and Joe not ready.
The answer to reading re James must be 'No'! He's superb for us.
The answer to Villa and Wigan must be 'who really wants him boys? Start the bidding now!'
'Cheeky'?? we should be biting their hands off given the parlous state of our finances. He is a very average keeper(at best) & gets away with murder at the back - so many goals are down to him not saving cleanly, not coming off his line, poor positioning & then there's his kicking...we could use this money to strengthen elsewhere not to mention getting ??30k a wk off the wage bill.
DJ must stay for at least 1 more season as I need some advice on my paintings which have large windows!!
I'm amazed we haven't given him a free to save the wages ... after all we've got Joe Hart now and Paul Dickov would probably make a better keeper than a forward !
lets get in for hamman
James has been a good performer for City. He is still prone to the odd gaff but when you look at him over a season he has been excellent. What we have to remember is that he will be 36 soon and has a year to go on his contract. It is becoming clearer by the day that City's finances are in a far worse state than has been reported over the last year or so. I would like to keep James but ??2m is a lot of money for a 35 year old with a year left on their contract. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Hmmm... not sure about this. Maybe there are question marks over Weaver and Hart as 1st choice at this moment. But turning down 2 million for a player probably in his last season. It's better to take 2 million now rather than lose him for nothing. Also his wages are way too high at 30k. And he has started to commit blunders. There is a danger he may get slower this season and become Seaman Mark II. Take the money if it is a straight 2 million up front.
I'm surprised we're keeping him,a chance to pay off some more debt & further degrade the squad.
Two million for a 36 year old,i think i would sell him.
I have to say, James has some dodgy moments. but all inall I think he is a talented keeper. Having said that, I think that it would be worth selling him for 2 million and giving Joe Hart a go, afterall he played a full season with Shrewsbury, and you can either save goals from hitting the back of the net or you can't. Otherwise, I would trust Weaver in nets for a full season, with the backup of the other two. I think City need the money and 2m for a 36 year old would be good money. Although Shilton went on into his 40's, ah blow it, we need to concentrate on the youth, let him go. Use the cash to bolster the mjidfield where we are short in numbers.
Obviously this is clearly more speculation, as there is the usual lack of quotes/evidence, but surely if there is any substance to it then a swap deal for Sidweel would seem the ideal solution for us. I'm sure we would cope with Weaver/Hart in goal - basically we should sacrifice anything to get some decent midfielders in!!
Sell James?! Are you mad, we'd have gone down twice if it wasnt for him.
Wouldn't even sell my dog to Reading and Coppell.Remember the Goat saga,they wouldn't play him cos the next game the owed us money
james should stay, he is a massive player for us. agree we should get hamman..is that just wishful thinking or is he available. he is german after all so his natural choice for an english club should be city.
Depends if he wants to go. If makes those kind of noises then flog him to whoever. It would cerainly bring some sense to the signing of Hart.
I get the feeling that James is a ally of Pearce so it won't happen unless the board force the issue, and given his age and the price quoted that could be the case.
Looks ideal for a punt at Sidwell to me.
tellyou what wardle! why dont we justsell all ofour first team squad if we are that hard up and put the under 18's in the first team!i am seriously dejeceted and worried about the lack of new signings and the lac of ambition we are showing this summer...i am very disiluaioned but again will be there nex season...ayone lse concerne??? south stand upper loyal..
Why on earth would he want to go ? 40 odd thousand at Eastlands as opposed to 20 odd thousand on a very good day at the Madjeski, he'd have to bit soft in the head. Mind you he could be keen to distance himself as far as possible from Rio Ferdinand. What a pile of utter dross 'Ferdinands world cup wind ups' was on Saturday night. It's enough to put me off all footballers altogether, to think that most of them are on scores of thousands of pounds every week. Serves me right for watching it and not going out I suppose.
Hope City get relegated just to prove you wingers right for once in your lives. James is without doubt one of the best keepers in the world yet someone comes along with a few pence and we cry sell him, sell him. Such short memories.
Should let him go if you ask me, ??2m for an error prone keeper is good business. We could put that money towards a decent midfielder.
Much as I rate Joe Hart, the idea was to use James as a mentor this Season, giving the lad a few games here and there. Without James I really think our weak squad would be relegation certainties, and poor Joe would be a shell-shocked wreck. And I have no idea why Weaver has been given a contract. Perhaps he's related to Sibierski.
2 mllion is a good price but would be a major gamble. Weaver has played a staggering 5 mins of football in 5 years. That tells you everything you need to know about him. We also spent half our tfr budget on a keeper who wont be ready for a couple of years. Even with 2 million extra to spend, SP cant spend it cause nobody wants to play for a dead man walking.
Tough one. Jamo rarely puts a foot wrong for us despite his problems for England. ??2M is a very good price though. Anyone remenber what we paid for him, it was less than that I think?
SJ Denton is spot on. Remember the goat business? Coppell wouldn't play a proven goalscorer one extra match to avoid paying city half a million. If it does happen, they should be told the price is two million plus the half-million they owe us plus another quarter million for our trouble AND THE WHOLE LOT UPFRONT NO INSTALLMENTS.