Third round replay/Manchester City v Sheffield Wednesday:Alex Ferguson does not often support Manchester City but tonight, in their FA Cup third-round tie against Sheffield Wednesday, he has his reasons for hoping Stuart Pearce's side make it through. City's reward would be a fourth-round tie at home to Southampton and, for Ferguson, that means a first opportunity to watch Gareth Bale in person.
Although Manchester United lodged an unsuccessful £5 million offer for Bale 10 days ago, Ferguson has yet to watch the 17-year-old other than on video and is anxious to run his eye over him in a match against Premiership opposition. If City beat Wednesday, the Southampton tie would be moved to Sunday, January 28th, so it does not clash with Portsmouth's visit to Old Trafford 24 hours earlier, and Ferguson intends to take advantage of a free day to be in the crowd at the City of Manchester Stadium.
By then, there will be only three days of the transfer window to go, the indications being the deal will not go through until the end of the season. One possibility is that Bale could sign for United and then be loaned back to Southampton for a year.
Ferguson has relied thus far on reports from his scouting staff and network of contacts, in particular Harry Redknapp and Jim Smith, both former Southampton employees. Bale has been described as the best young prospect outside the Premiership, but Ferguson is in no rush to push the deal through because he does not believe the teenager is astute enough defensively to play at the higher end of the Premiership straight away. For the same reasons, he is also reluctant to go much higher than the initial offer.
"We are working on one or two things, but don't hold your breath," he said. "Overall the question of signing new players in mid-season is not as straightforward as it might appear. We have had mixed fortunes taking new people on board halfway through the season . . . And we are certainly not in a position where we need to panic buy."
United's priority remains Bayern Munich midfielder Owen Hargreaves, but Ferguson has received mixed signals from the German champions.
"Whether that will be possible right now is not clear and obviously it's not entirely in our own hands. It's difficult. Someone (at Bayern) will say something, then someone else will say something different. We're working away but it's never easy."
Everton's pursuit of midfield reinforcements is to prompt a bid for Joey Barton, with David Moyes aiming to exploit a get-out clause in the Manchester City player's contract that would allow him to leave Eastlands for £5.5 million.
The Everton manager will raise funds for the move by selling Simon Davies to Fulham in a deal that could be worth up to £3 million. However, that move will only be sanctioned once Everton have the go-ahead to speak to Barton, who has emerged as Moyes's first choice, with West Ham United's Nigel Reo-Coker thought to be reluctant to move to Merseyside.
The 24-year-old's wage package could hamper a deal, though Barton, a boyhood Evertonian, would welcome a switch to Goodison Park. The midfielder riled home supporters on his visit to the stadium earlier this season, baring his buttocks in front of the Park End post-match to prompt an FA fine of £2,000, but will be attracted by Everton's seventh-place position.
Moyes also hopes to sign the Sheffield Wednesday defender Madjid Bougherra.
City expect to discover today whether their attempt to sign Kepa Blanco Gonzalez from Sevilla has been successful.
Guardian Service
