Monday gossip

It may ‘only’ have been in a pre-season game, but David Silva’s sublime display against Inter Milan has rightly earned a plethora of plaudits this morning.


The Independent does a compare-and-contrast job for the mercurial Spaniard alongside Inter’s Wesley Sniejder –

“On the actual pitch yesterday Sneijder was eclipsed by the supreme David Silva. The Spaniard set up City's second goal with a glorious reverse through-ball for Edin Dzeko," raves Miguel Delaney.

“No one reads too much into any pre-season tournament but there were still some real positives for Mancini to take beyond the tidy nature of the victory. For a start, the thought of Silva combining with Sergio Aguero – who was too fatigued to play – must be hugely appealing for City."

At the Guardian, David Hytner enthuses about what he saw from Mario Balotelli at the Aviva Stadium.

“For Balotelli it felt a little like redemption. Last Sunday in Los Angeles, against the Galaxy, he had been substituted in disgrace after his attempted back-heeled finish went horribly wrong. Mancini's rollicking was public. Balotelli will forever resemble a maverick but, playing off the left flank against his former club, there was plenty to admire about his first-half showing, in which City were collectively superior to Internazionale."

Proving that it’s a global game, you can read more of the same at the Jamaica Observer, or have a look at This Is Nottingham to read what Kenny Burns, the former Forest defender, thinks of the enigmatic Italian. Kenny takes no prisoners and goes in with both feet, a bit like he did in his playing days.

Elsewhere there’s speculation about the future of Craig Bellamy on the BBC’s web site, in the words of Roberto Mancini - "If Celtic want Craig... he can go. Craig is a good striker and he can play at Celtic, because they're an important team."