MANCHESTER CITY have opened negotiations to sign Georgios Samaras, the highly rated young Greece forward, but have been told by his club, Heerenveen, that he will cost more than £6 million.
Stuart Pearce, the City manager, previously considered a move for Emmanuel Abedayor, who joined Arsenal from AS Monaco on Friday, but he has decided that Samaras, 20, is the man to add greater variety to his forward line. City held talks with Heerenveen yesterday and will now try to persuade the Dutch club’s chairman, Riemer van der Velde, to accept an offer that is closer to their own valuation.
Van der Velde gave Pearce some encouragement yesterday, saying that “there is indeed a chance that we will see Samaras go to Manchester City” and even claiming that the youngster had been offered a contract until 2010. More discussions between the two clubs are expected today, with sources in the Netherlands claiming that Samaras has expressed anger with his employers for potentially pricing him out of the move.
The arrival of another centre forward would probably spell the end of Robbie Fowler’s City career, despite his goal as a substitute in the 3-1 victory over Manchester United on Saturday. Pearce is in no rush to offload Fowler, who has attracted two loan bids from Coca-Cola Championship clubs, and may choose to retain him until the summer, but there appears to be little or no prospect of the former Liverpool forward being offered an extension to his contract, despite Pearce’s insistence that no decision has been made.