Mind-games over new targets?

With our move for Everton and England centre-half Joleon Lescott heading for another uneasy standoff after David Moyes criticisims of the way we've gone about out attempted purchase of the player, it's perhaps not completely surprising that we're now being strongly linked with two of their alleged transfer targets.

Moyes probably does have a point somewhere, in that you'd hope any transfer would at some point involve dialogue between the two managers involved, but i'm not sure there failing to be warrants a public slanging match. Whether this is simply Moyes trying to make it look like he did everything within his power to keep the defender remains to be seen. £20m+ would, in my opinion, be very good business for them, but you can understand them wanting to hold out for as much as they could get.

The suggestions seem to be, not just in regards to this transfer, that City are throwing their money around willy-nilly in some sort of vile, almost bullying fashion. I'm not sure that's the case at all. The transfers we've completed this summer have all been quick and painless, with the selling club's getting good fees for those leaving, and negotiations being complete without any real posturing from either side in the press. The only possible attempt at signing a player in the very recent past which attracted deserved criticism was the failed move for John Terry, where our manager spoke about the player to the media, indicating that he'd already held some sort of talks with him.

We're well within our rights to bid for a player, and to bid again on rejections, it's just how things work, we're free to bid, they're free to turn down our offers, i'm not sure where the problem lies so far as this goes, or how we could be deemed to be throwing our weight around. Lescott, quite understandably, may have had his head turned by the figures the press report to be on offer, again, that's nothing we should feel guilty about, providing there's been no move to the player or his agent without Everton having accepted a bid.

The rumours over the weekend linking us with Fabian Delph and Rasmus Elm, two players David Moyes has been linked with a lot of late, could possibly be some cunning game-playing by the club. Everton will know they won't be able to compete with City in any race to sign either, and so our interest automatically strengthens our position over Lescott. Both are very promising prospects, don't get me wrong. Elm was one of the standout performers of this years U21 Championship Finals, and Delph should go on to be a superstar, but neither really strike me as being what we need at the moment, nor Hughes' type of signing.