Sunday, 27th December 2009

New Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has declared Craig Bellamy "my friend" in his post-match press conference yesterday. The Italian was seeking to play down speculation linking the Welsh forward with a move away from the club, speculation that no doubt intensified through Mancini’s decision to omit Bellamy from the starting line-up.

Mancini said he had spoken to Bellamy and explained that he would not be starting against Stoke and primarly this was down to needing to rotate the team with the demands of so many games in a short period of time.

Bellamy therefore is expected to start City’s next game away to Wolves on Monday.

Despite Mancini’s comments it does still seem clear that Spurs are monitoring the situation closely and Bellamy is thought to be unhappy at the way former boss Mark Hughes was dismissed from the City of Manchester Stadium.

 

 

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