From The TimesFebruary 2, 2008Mysterious Manchester City dealings leave tardy Benjani in holding patternOliver KayBenjani Mwaruwari, the third highest goalscorer in the Barclays Premier League this season, was left in limbo last night after Manchester City tried to abort their £7.6 million deal to sign him from Portsmouth in the moments before the transfer window closed. The Zimbabwe forward remains a Portsmouth player for now, but the South Coast club will demand to the league that the deal goes through despite Cityâs unexplained misgivings about the transfer.Various conspiracy theories have been floated about the collapse of the deal, which City claim was because of Benjaniâs late arrival in Manchester to have a medical before the transfer deadline at midnight on Thursday. The Times understands that Benjani failed to sign one of the forms that were submitted to the Premier League only five minutes before the deadline, but that was not the only reason why the transfer has not been concluded, with sources indicating that City were unhappy with aspects relating to the various agents who represent the 29-year-old. Neither club was willing to comment on this allegation.The Premier League, which was examining the paperwork last night, would be prepared to overlook the apparent administrative error, while Portsmouth and Sven-Göran Eriksson, the City manager, also remain eager for the deal to go through. But the City board, for reasons that it declines to make public, does not wish to proceed with the transfer.City were also unhappy that Benjani arrived at their training ground only 50 minutes before the deadline, having missed two flights from Heathrow and had a third flight cancelled, but this is thought to have been regarded as an irritation rather than the reason why the deal was not completed.Peter Storrie, the Portsmouth chief executive, and Harry Redknapp, the manager, stated yesterday that they expected the deal to go through, having filled Benjaniâs place in the squad by signing Jermain Defoe from Tottenham Hotspur. âWe got the call from them [City] at 11.55pm that their forms had gone through and thatâs when Peter Storrie gave the go-ahead for our forms [to register Defoe] to go through,â Redknapp said. âAs far as we knew, they sent their forms, so I donât see why there should be a problem.âEriksson stated yesterday lunchtime that he hoped that the deal would be finalised, but this was before he had spoken at length to Alistair Mackintosh, the chief executive, who was in charge of the process on Thursday night.One player whose signature City are pursuing with vigour is that of Micah Richards, the young England defender, who has been in negotiations over a new contract for the past five months. There has been a stand-off between the two parties, with the club reluctant to break their wage structure to increase his wages from £15,000 a week to £60,000 a week, but Richards, 19, insisted yesterday that he expects to sign a contract, despite longstanding interest from Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.Unclaimed baggageWednesday Portsmouth indicate that they will sell Benjani Mwaruwari to Manchester City if they can sign Jermain Defoe from Tottenham Hotspur.Thursday, morning The clubs agree a fee of £7.6 million. Benjaniâs representatives accept the personal terms offered by City.Noon Sven-Göran Eriksson attends a meeting in London to secure work permits for Benjani and Felipe Caicedo, the Ecuador forward. He returns to Manchester by train at 5.30pm, expecting Benjani to be at the training ground undergoing a medical.3.15pm Benjani misses flight BA1396 from London to Manchester.5pm He misses flight BMI 590.6.45pm Flight BMI 592 is cancelled.8.50pm Flight BMI 594 is delayed for 35 minutes, arriving in Manchester at 10.30pm.11.10pm Benjani arrives at Cityâs training ground.Yesterday: 1am Eriksson is informed that the deal has fallen through.1.27am City announce that âdue to the late arrival of the player in Manchester we were unable to complete the transferâ. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle3292145.ece
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benjani was playing right mid for majority of games for pompeypompey just needed an out and out goalscorerthats all they were missing
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Gundam
Bent ain't injured, ramos told him to f*ck off.Adel can play off the striker still but will probally play KPB if one of our strikers get injured.
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Guest GHANA YOOT
Spurs should of signed Benjani still
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Agony
Another twist to the Benjani story....
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