MANCHESTER City have suffered another setback, after a chastening start to the new season, with the collapse of their bid to sign Mido, the Egypt forward, on a long-term loan from Marseilles. Kevin Keegan, the City manager, sold Paulo Wanchope to Málaga in anticipation of signing the 21-year-old, but the latter deal has fallen through, leaving City just four days to find a new centre forward before the transfer window closes.
“Mido will not be happening now,” Keegan said yesterday. “We could have had him about a month ago, but he has now patched up his differences with Marseilles and wants to stay there. It’s a dead deal as far as we’re concerned. I’ve still got irons in the fire and I’m hoping something good will stand up and hit us.”
Keegan is under pressure, his team having one point from their first three matches, and it is a sign of difficult times that even the club’s supporters are beginning to feel disillusioned. Yesterday morning there were still 6,000 tickets unsold for this afternoon’s visit of Charlton Athletic.
“It’s unusual there are so many unsold tickets and that could well be because of our start to the season,” Keegan said. “Things can turn very quickly, but one point out of nine is not a great start.”
José Mourinho has been pleased with the gradual improvement in Chelsea so far and will be boosted by the recovery from an ankle injury of Didier Drogba, the forward, who is expected to start against Southampton today. “From the organisational point of view and in the quality, we have improved. We played much farther from our goal (against Crystal Palace), had much more possession and created more chances to score,” the manager said.
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Mourinho also thinks FC Porto, whom Chelsea meet in the Champions League, are a better team than the one he coached to victory in the competition last season. “They have signed top players, too, including Diego,” he said. “Everything is there, the structure, the mentality, the ambition and the confidence.”