Author: Pele

Stephen Ireland said a lot about Roberto Mancini, and Milner:

“I did feel unwanted at Manchester City. I was banging my head against a brick wall despite what I had done in training. I just went with the reserves, worked hard in the gym and kept as active as possible.”

“Without a shadow of doubt the situation I found myself in will happen a lot at Manchester City with all the high-profile players they have at the club. At Manchester City sitting on the bench I didn’t feel part of the team. I was neither happy nor sad if we lost. He must think the grass is greener on the other side but he’ll get a shook soon because it’s definitely not that way. I’ve really landed on my feet here.”

“James Milner sees the attraction of going to City, he obviously sees the players going there and he wants to be one of those so-called superstars and nail down his place in the England team, become more established and play 90 minutes for England. I can understand why he has gone there but I can tell him that I’m very happy to leave there and come here. Some people have used the phrase that I’ve been forced out; I couldn’t be happier to be forced to come here.”

“I don’t think loyalty is much in anyone’s mind at Manchester City. I felt like I would be next [to leave]. A lot of players felt like that as well – the homegrown guys. Mancini doesn’t really build relationships with players. He has everybody a bit on edge. He brought Patrick Vieira in and when I spoke to him [Vieira] about his relationship [with Mancini], he said he doesn’t really have one, and he’s worked for him for years. I think that’s the way he is.”

“I think that was really unfair, all the players know I was the first player into training and the last to leave. I worked the hardest. With all the heart-rate monitors and tests, I was always No.1, far ahead of everyone. You see the performance in training and I was practically always the best player in training. If [Mancini’s] standing there watching that, I don’t know how he doesn’t see that.”

“Richard Dunne is a good example of what can happen after leaving Manchester City to join Villa. A year on I can see how happy he is at Villa and I’m hoping that I will be as happy in a year’s time. Richard was a huge part of Manchester City and it was a great shock to see him leave. It was as big a shock to him as everyone else but he could not have come to a better club as he proved with his performances last season.”

“For me this is a positive, as this is exactly how I want it to be. I’m still young and hopefully Villa will get the best of me and I am now looking forward to the season.”

Van der Vaart said that he would be honoured to play for Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United:

“They are a huge club and if the reported interest they have in me turns out to be true, then I would really have to sit down and listen.”

“If Manchester United could offer me first-team football with the situation as it is at Madrid, it would be very hard to turn down. Alex Ferguson is a great coach and I would never think about joining a team where I didn’t believe I could win things, so all of a sudden that limits your choices.”

“At Manchester United you know success is likely and that’s a big factor for me at this stage of my career. If Jose Mourinho makes it clear I won’t play much, I see my future in English football.”

Liverpool, Chelsea and Inter may also be in battle for this player, if the asking price became one like which they asked from Inter for Sneijder (€15m).