City rebuff bids for goalkeeper and defender

Manchester City have turned down bids from Spurs for Shay Given and Juventus for Micah Richards according to reports this morning.

Sky Sports News say that City have turned down an approach from Italian giants Juventus for full-back Micah Richards. Richards, 22, has struggled to secure a regular place in Roberto Mancini’s star-studded first XI and has started just 10 league games this season.

The England international has already expressed his concerns to Mancini about his lack of action and recently indicated he would be prepared to leave Eastlands in search of regular football.

Serie A giants Juventus are thought to have enquired about Richards’ availability after being impressed by his display in last month’s Europa League clash between the sides. But it seems Mancini still regards the versatile and powerful defender as a valuable member of his expensively-assembled squad. Richards, who is hoping to make his return from a back injury in City’s FA Cup tie at Notts County, has found himself sharing right-back duties with Jerome Boateng and Pablo Zabaleta this term.

Tottenham Hotspur reportedly lodged a £4 million bid to sign Shay Given, only to be rejected by City.

The veteran shot-stopper was dethroned as the club’s number-one choice by Joe Hart at the start of the current campaign, and has been largely restricted to watching City’s surge up the Premier League ladder from the bench.

Now the News of the World claims that Spurs threw in a £4 million bid to hand the former Newcastle United keeper a lifeline to join the north London outfit and compete with Heurelho Gomes for a starting berth, only for the Eastlands outfit to turn down the offer.

Given is desperate to play regularly, and recently insisted that he is even willing to make a move to the Championship to regain regular football.

Mancini said, “The window closes soon. For us it would be impossible to find another goalkeeper like Shay. He must stay here. If we lose another player we need to bring in someone different. It is impossible if we have 19-20 players for the next four months.”