Garry Cook heads to Abu Dhabi to draw up transfer wishlist

• Y_Shun

  13 Nov 10, 13:01

  Cook heads to Abu Dhabi to draw up transfer wishlist

  • Cook to meet Manchester City's owner and chairman
  • Future of Emmanuel Adebayor likely to be discussed

  
  Emmanuel Adebayor, left, is believed to be one of the players Manchester City may offload in January. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

  Garry Cook, the Manchester City chief executive, has flown to Abu Dhabi to deliver a progress report to the club's owner, Sheikh Mansour, and set in place their spending plans for what promises to be another extensive period of business in the January transfer window.

  Edin Dzeko, the prolific Wolfsburg striker, is the principal target, though City know from experience that the Bundesliga club can be difficult negotiators. The clubs spent most of the summer haggling over a fee for the Bosnia international before City walked away from the deal because of the disparity in what they were willing to pay, around £25m to £30m, and Wolfsburg's valuation of £45m.

  Cook is meeting the club's chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak, and their agenda will also include how to trim the squad of some of Roberto Mancini's fringe players, part of the effort to reduce the wage bill in line with Uefa's fair-play regulations.

  The difficulty facing City is that their players are on such high salaries there is a fear potential buyers may be deterred. Wayne Bridge, who has already been informed he has no future at the club, earns £95,000 a week, while Emmanuel Adebayor is one of City's higher earners, with a weekly salary in the region of £150,000.

  Adebayor's volatile relationship with the manager, Roberto Mancini, has improved recently and the club's coaching staff have been encouraged by his work on the training ground compared to six weeks ago when his attitude had become a major issue.

  Nonetheless, manager and player still have differences. Adebayor's reaction at the final whistle of last night's 0-0 draw with Manchester United, heading straight down the tunnel, made clear his displeasure about being brought on as a substitute for only the final few seconds. City's backroom staff have noted that when he was informed he was replacing Carlos Tevez he did not have his shin pads or his boots on.

  City will also listen to offers for the increasingly peripheral Shaun Wright-Phillips and Roque Santa Cruz while Shay Given wants a loan move after losing his place to Joe Hart.