City agree Bridge fee

Chelsea left-back set for Eastlands switch

Last updated: 2nd January 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

City agree Bridge fee

Bridge: Fee agreed

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Mark Hughes has revealed that Manchester City have agreed a fee with Chelsea for left-back Wayne Bridge.

The Stamford Bridge side confirmed earlier on Friday that the England international had been given permission to speak to City about a proposed January move.

City have not revealed the amount that they will have to pay to secure Bridge's services, but it is believed to be in the region of £12million.

The left-back, who moved to West London from Southampton in the summer of 2003 in a £7million deal, has been unable to secure a regular place in the Chelsea starting XI.

Ashley Cole's form for club and country has kept him ahead of Bridge in both teams and he now looks set to move on to pastures new.

Hughes has money to spend in the winter transfer window and is backed by the financial muscle of the Abu Dhabi United Group.

The Eastlands boss confirmed to Sky Sports News on Thursday that he was keen to complete as much business as early as possible.

Negotiations

Bridge's anticipated arrival in the North West is expected to be the first of five new signings as City look to pull away from the wrong end of the Premier League table.

Hughes revealed he was optimistic of concluding the deal in the next 24 hours.

He said: "My understanding is the clubs have agreed a fee.

"We need to speak to the boy and try to agree personal terms.

"If we can do that hopefully Wayne will be a Manchester City player, that's the aim.

"Wayne will probably travel to Manchester this evening (Friday) and hopefully negotiations will go well and he can have a medical tomorrow."

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