Soccer Central

Manchester City has completed the signing of Craig Bellamy from West Ham, and although the actual fee paid remains undisclosed; it’s believed to be somewhere in the region of £14 million.

There has been interest in player from both Tottenham and Man City of late; West Ham did not wish to sell the player to their bitter London rivals Spurs however, and ultimately the player has moved up north to once more player under Mark Hughes. Bellamy has previously played under Hughes with both Wales and Blackburn, and has now signed a 4 and a half-year deal to play for Manchester City.

Manchester City is Bellamy’s eighth professional club in a career which began at Norwich City in 1996, and Man City now becomes his sixth club in four years. Bellamy will be hoping to quickly settle into life at Eastlands, and he’s expected to make his Man City debut against former club Newcastle United on January 28th.

Craig Bellamy becomes Manchester City’s second January signing, and history could still be made in the window if the club really is to snap up Kaka from AC Milan. Kaka seemingly doesn’t wish to leave AC Milan, Milan fans are protesting outside the club’s headquarters, and Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is quite forthcoming in admitting that the transfer move is far from complete. Mass speculation still surrounds the move though, and it has even been suggested that Kaka will net £500,000 a week if he moves to Man City. A £100 million move would smash the current transfer record - Zinedine Zidane’s £46 million move from Juventus to Real Madrid in 2001, and the wages being rumoured seem completely ridiculous. Manchester City has apparently not even discussed wages with the player though, so anything being suggested in the media right now is mere speculation.

So Craig Bellamy is the latest player to make the move to Manchester City, and we’ll soon see him make his debut for the club. There’ll probably be a few more faces joining the club yet, and Hamburg’s Nigel de Jong is expected to sign for City soon. £14 million seems like loose change given the Kaka rumours right now, it’s still a lot of money though, and West Ham will surely be hoping to put these millions to good use.

City fans will be hoping that Bellamy is more successful at the club than Jo, and that a hard working player like Craig Bellamy will be enough to see the club rise on up the table. Mark Hughes obviously has great faith in the player’s ability to do a good job at the club, and January 28th should provide all with a chance to see the player in action for his new team.

Newcastle United beware; Craig Bellamy is now a Manchester City player, and on January 28th he’ll be looking to prove the point as to why £14 million has been spent on him. A glorious debut game is surely to be expected.