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[petrusha]

If they're seriously offering GBP 8 million, I'd bite their hand off:

Ireland in £8m move

By NEIL CUSTIS

Published: Today

MANCHESTER CITY are set to sell Stephen Ireland after a season of bizarre behaviour.

The club are ready to accept an offer of around ?8million from Sunderland in the summer.

Ireland, 21, is contracted to City until the end of next season but there have been no talks about extending that.

Instead, Eastlands bigwigs want the midfielder out.

Last September, he quit the Republic of Ireland camp claiming his gran had died. But the FAI found out that was not the case.

Ireland then insisted it was a different grandmother but she too was alive.

The player finally admitted he went home because his girlfriend had suffered a miscarriage.

Then, after scoring the winner at home to Sunderland in November, he pulled down his shorts to reveal a pair of Superman underpants.

Black Cats boss Roy Keane has made no secret of his desire to land the Irishman.

Keane said: “Whatever problems he has, he is a very, very good player.”

[jds]

Silly season comes early....

IIRC that quote from Keane is ages old, maybe even from when we beat Sunderland at home earlier in the season and Ireland scored. If Ireland was worth £8m, we wouldn't contemplate letting him go IMO.

[petrusha]

Silly season comes early....

IIRC that quote from Keane is ages old, maybe even from when we beat Sunderland at home earlier in the season and Ireland scored. If Ireland was worth £8m, we wouldn't contemplate letting him go IMO.

Yes.  I presume that it's just a case of putting two and two together and making five - Ireland's behaviour has sometimes been erratic, City will be bringing in new players and will ship out others to make way, Keane is a known admirer.

I'm sure RK wouldn't pay GBP 8 million for him, but, to be honest, I'd be tempted to sell for less than that anyway.