This is the City of fourth victory in four games since dealt with Mancini. These additional three points to make City surged to a big four sequence positions, the position of the target at the beginning of their minilal this season.

Mancini said the team would not talk too much about the title associated with distance from the head of the league, Chelsea are still relatively far: seven points and four points from Arsenal who are in third position. However, he would dare to speak after two months in advance.

“We’re not going to see the standings for the time being. There are 17 action that must be lived and we will see later on. We’re just going to talk about the standings at one or two months,” he said.

City, who are in talks with AC Milan over a possible world record transfer for Brazilian playmaker Kaka, will pay close to 20 million euro ($26.29 million) for the 24-year-old former Ajax Amsterdam holding midfielder, according to German media.

“We have had contact with Manchester City and have agreed to release the player if he can strike a deal with the English club,” Hamburg spokesman Joern Wolf told Reuters.

“Now it is up to the player and his agent to agree on a contract with that team.”

De Jong, whose contract with Hamburg expires in 2010, had confirmed late last week he had received an offer and said he still had two weeks to decide before the end of the transfer period. On Monday he said the deal was far from done.

“I cannot say anything. Nothing is finished,” he told reporters upon the team`s return from a training camp in Spain.

Hamburg coach Martin Jol said that if the deal went through, the funds would be used to bolster his squad.

“My idea is to take a step back in order to move three steps forward,” Jol told reporters.

City, in the bottom of half of the Premier League table, are the richest club in the world after being taken over by the Abu Dhabi United Group.

Antara News

Officials from the Barclays Premier League club met their counterparts from the Serie A team in Milan yesterday and, according to reports, were armed with a salary offer from Sheikh Mansour, their billionaire owner from Abu Dhabi, that would result in the 2007 Fifa World Player of the Year earning £13.6 million a year after tax.

On a day of frantic transfer activity, Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, was also spotted at the San Siro watching Adriano, Inter Milan’s out-of-favour striker, in a 3-1 Coppa Italia victory over Genoa.

Tottenham are prepared to offer Gareth Bale as part of any deal, which could pave the way for Inter to let Adriano go and allow them to pursue their interest in signing Carlos Tévez, the Argentina forward, from Manchester United.

Garry Cook, the City chief executive, met Ariedo Braida, the Milan sporting director, and Adriano Galliani, the Italian club’s executive vicepresident, to discuss the offer for Kaká. Two agents were also present: Ernesto Bronzetti, who advises Milan on transfer activity, and Kia Joorabchian, who has strong links with Brazilian players and acted on behalf of City in the deals that brought Robinho — a British-record signing at £34.2 million — and Jô to the City of Manchester Stadium last summer. Kaká’s agent, Gaetano Paolillo, and the player’s father, who is involved in his son’s business affairs, were not present.

Milan tried to explain the arrival of the City delegation by saying they were there to discuss Dida, the 35-year-old Brazil goalkeeper, but it is unlikely that it would take the top brass of both clubs to discuss the transfer of an ageing reserve. Silvio Berlusconi, the Milan owner, said: “I don’t know anything about any offer, but I do hope Kaká is not for sale and that he stays.”

Unlike Juventus, who parted with Zinédine Zidane for a world-record fee of £48 million in 2001, Milan have never sold any of their star players while still in their prime. Moving Kaká, 26, would be quite a departure and a blow to the ego of Berlusconi, Italy’s Prime Minister and one of the wealthiest men in Europe. However, when faced with Sheikh Mansour’s chequebook and an offer that would just about cover Milan’s wage bill for an entire season, even an ego as big as Berlusconi’s might be ready to concede.

Inter, meanwhile, have offered Tottenham the opportunity to sign Adriano, with Bale, the Wales left back, going the other way in part-exchange. The 26-year-old Brazil striker’s career has been in decline after a blistering spell in which he was arguably the world’s best centre forward.

Adriano has battled against depression, injuries and drink in recent times and in the latter half of last year he was loaned back to São Paulo. This season, under José Mourinho, he has made only seven appearances in Serie A, scoring one goal.

Bale, 19, is believed to have caught Mourinho’s eye during the Portuguese manager’s time at Chelsea. He has featured 12 times for Tottenham this season since recovering from an ankle ligament injury. Selling Adriano and cutting his £5 million-a-year salary from the Inter wage bill would enable Mourinho to pursue a deal for Tévez.

TIMES ONLINE