Manchester City plan to continue their pursuit of Everton defender Joleon Lescott despite having several bids rejected by their English Premier League rivals.
Everton manager David Moyes launched an angry attack against City on Friday, calling their attempts to sign the England international “disgusting.”
City counterpart Mark Hughes, however, is still determined to bolster his defense with Lescott before the transfer window closes at the end of the month.
“When a deal has run its course, we would be prepared to walk away,” Hughes said after Saturday’s season-opening 2-0 win at Blackburn Rovers. “At this moment in time, we are still to arrive at that position. Our interest is not finished yet. The headlines were quite predictable. I am not surprised David feels a bit aggrieved with the situation, you always are when a big club comes along trying to acquire one of your better players.”
A bid of £15 million (US$25 million) was rejected and an improved offer of £18 million was turned down at the end of last month. Moyes is unhappy that Hughes never contacted him directly about buying Lescott.
“We are doing things the right way and through the proper channels,” Hughes said. “We haven’t put this into the public domain. Everton did that on their Web site.”
Moyes is determined not to lose Lescott as Everton try to break into the top four.
“There is no deal, is there? And I have said often enough that Everton are not selling,” Moyes said on Saturday.
Everton were thrashed by Arsenal on Saturday after Moyes had complained that his club was being disrupted by City’s pursuit of Lescott.
“They have been talking about it and we have not been talking about the start of the season, that has been disruptive,” Moyes said. “So maybe that is what the overall plan was.”
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