Manchester City conceded defeat last night in their battle to re-sign Joe Hart after the club refused to bow to Birmingham City’s attempts to cash in on their rival’s desperate bid to resolve their goalkeeping crisis.
City will bring in Marton Fulop from Sunderland on a temporary basis this morning after being granted special dispensation by the Premier League to sign the Hungarian in the wake of an injury crisis that had left the club with only one fit senior goalkeeper.
With Shay Given expected to have an operation in London today on a dislocated shoulder that has ruled the Ireland goalkeeper out of City’s final three matches of the season, the club’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League may rest on Fulop after their efforts to recall Hart from his season-long loan at Birmingham collapsed at the end of a day of negotiations.
City had offered to waive the £460,000 loan fee owed to them by Birmingham for Hart, pay the England goalkeeper’s £30,000-a-week wages and settle any agents’ fees.
But with Birmingham understood to have been demanding a compensation package that could ultimately have totalled close to £3 million, City pulled the plug after hours of talks between Garry Cook, their chief executive, and Peter Pannu, the Midlands club’s vice-president.
In addition to City’s proposals, Birmingham are believed to have asked for a further £1.5 million to compensate for the prospect, without Hart, of the club dropping down the table, another £500,000 if City finished fourth and a percentage of any lost season-ticket revenue culminating from a lower than expected league finish. Each Premier League place is worth £750,000.
“I understand their [City’s] predicament,” Pannu said. “But if we let Joe go then we lose two positions in the Premier League, we lose £1.5 million in merit money.”
Although City had been given the green light by the Premier League to pursue Hart, in addition to Fulop, the organisation appeared to perform an about-turn by saying they would not have sanctioned the goalkeeper’s return to the club even if a compromise had been reached with Birmingham.
The Premier League later appeared to soften its stance, although City had no desire to meet Birmingham’s demands. In a statement last night, City said: “The club have been in contact throughout the day with both Birmingham City and Sunderland with regards to bringing either Joe Hart or Marton Fulop to the team on an emergency basis. Agreement has not been reached with Birmingham, but we anticipate that Marton Fulop will join us in training [today].”
Fulop, 26, has not played a first team match since January 16, when Sunderland were beaten 7-2 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but is expected to start City’s game at home to Aston Villa on Saturday. Gunnar Nielsen, the Faeroe Isles international, was City’s only fit senior goalkeeper after injuries to Stuart Taylor and David González.
Source:The Times
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