• Left-back set to join from Chelsea on four-year deal
• Scolari may now move for CSKA Moscow midfielder
Stuart James and Tim Rich guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 January 2009 00.40 GMT
Wayne Bridge joined Chelsea from Southampton in 2003. Photograph: Henry Browne/Action Images
Manchester City are expected to confirm the signing of Wayne Bridge within the next 24 hours after a fee in the region of £10m was agreed with Chelsea last night. It is understood that Bridge will arrive in Manchester for talks today and, assuming there is no problem with agreeing personal terms, the 28-year-old will complete his switch from Stamford Bridge and kick-start a spending spree at Eastlands that may well have wider implications for the rest of the Premier League.
The recruitment of Bridge will come as a relief to Mark Hughes, who had long identified the left-back as his No1 choice to fill a position that has troubled City for some time. The former England international spent 5½ years at Stamford Bridge but was a peripheral figure following the arrival of Ashley Cole in 2006 and has not represented his country for 18 months. Regular first-team football at City should provide the platform to revive his England career.
Hughes had considered making a move for the Germany international Philipp Lahm if Chelsea refused to sell Bridge but the west London club appear to have deemed City's offer for a reserve left-back too good to turn down. He is set to agree a four-year contract at City and, although the club will be reluctant to match the £4m-a-year wages he earned at Chelsea, he is unlikely to be out of pocket after collecting signing-on fees and other monies due after he moved without requesting a transfer.
Whether Bridge's departure will change Chelsea's strategy in the transfer market this month in unclear. Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, had previously indicated there would be no new signings but the money from Bridge looks likely to go towards at least one purchase, and the CSKA Moscow midfielder Yuri Zhirkov is reportedly a target.
Some will regard the club's decision to sacrifice Cole's deputy as a gamble. Luiz Felipe Scolari does not have another recognised left-back at the club should Cole pick up an injury and the Chelsea manager has already suffered as a result of trimming his squad to 24 players in the summer.
Bridge signed an extended four-year contract at Stamford Bridge after Scolari took over but he has made three Premier League starts for Chelsea this season and just 12 appearances in all competitions, a record that was in keeping with a frustrating spell at the club following a £7m move from Sothampton in 2003.
He now finds himself at a club with an even wealthier owner, with the Abu Dhabi United Group that took control of City at the end of August, before unveiling Robinho as their first recruit hours later, expected to bankroll as many as five other new signings before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.
• Scolari may now move for CSKA Moscow midfielder
Stuart James and Tim Rich guardian.co.uk, Friday 2 January 2009 00.40 GMT
Wayne Bridge joined Chelsea from Southampton in 2003. Photograph: Henry Browne/Action Images
Manchester City are expected to confirm the signing of Wayne Bridge within the next 24 hours after a fee in the region of £10m was agreed with Chelsea last night. It is understood that Bridge will arrive in Manchester for talks today and, assuming there is no problem with agreeing personal terms, the 28-year-old will complete his switch from Stamford Bridge and kick-start a spending spree at Eastlands that may well have wider implications for the rest of the Premier League.
The recruitment of Bridge will come as a relief to Mark Hughes, who had long identified the left-back as his No1 choice to fill a position that has troubled City for some time. The former England international spent 5½ years at Stamford Bridge but was a peripheral figure following the arrival of Ashley Cole in 2006 and has not represented his country for 18 months. Regular first-team football at City should provide the platform to revive his England career.
Hughes had considered making a move for the Germany international Philipp Lahm if Chelsea refused to sell Bridge but the west London club appear to have deemed City's offer for a reserve left-back too good to turn down. He is set to agree a four-year contract at City and, although the club will be reluctant to match the £4m-a-year wages he earned at Chelsea, he is unlikely to be out of pocket after collecting signing-on fees and other monies due after he moved without requesting a transfer.
Whether Bridge's departure will change Chelsea's strategy in the transfer market this month in unclear. Peter Kenyon, the chief executive, had previously indicated there would be no new signings but the money from Bridge looks likely to go towards at least one purchase, and the CSKA Moscow midfielder Yuri Zhirkov is reportedly a target.
Some will regard the club's decision to sacrifice Cole's deputy as a gamble. Luiz Felipe Scolari does not have another recognised left-back at the club should Cole pick up an injury and the Chelsea manager has already suffered as a result of trimming his squad to 24 players in the summer.
Bridge signed an extended four-year contract at Stamford Bridge after Scolari took over but he has made three Premier League starts for Chelsea this season and just 12 appearances in all competitions, a record that was in keeping with a frustrating spell at the club following a £7m move from Sothampton in 2003.
He now finds himself at a club with an even wealthier owner, with the Abu Dhabi United Group that took control of City at the end of August, before unveiling Robinho as their first recruit hours later, expected to bankroll as many as five other new signings before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.
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