Football Predictions | SoccerAss

Three of the summer’s long-running transfer stories progressed further today as it emerged that Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano is ready to demand a move from Anfield.

Aston Villa’s James Milner is amazingly refuting Martin O’Neill’s claims that the England man wants a switch to Manchester City, and Nemanja Vidic is to be offered an improved contract at Manchester United.

The twists in the latter two cases directly contradict news reported yesterday, when each of the club’s bosses appeared open to the possibility of the players leaving – making Villa’s chances of a top four spot, at 9/1, and the prospect of seeing United win the title, at 2/1, seem less likely.

Mascherano’s demands, however, were to be expected, with new gaffer Roy Hodgson revealing earlier this week that the Argentina midfielder had not yet returned any of his calls.

Reports say that Mascherano is ready to ask for a transfer to push through his proposed move from Merseyside to Inter Milan.

Ex-Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez’s Inter are unwilling to offer the £30million that the 18-times league champions want (14/1 to win it this year) and instead they intend to put forward £20million with former Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari thrown in as a makeweight.

Such a deal could prove attractive to Hodgson, who would swap a wantaway player for one of proven Premier League quality, while at the same time amassing a big pot of money to bring in new signings. Hodgson is 20/1 to win the Champions League with Liverpool.

Meanwhile, a friend of Milner has responded to the Villa manager’s statement yesterday that the PFA young player of the year wanted to leave the club by saying: “James has never asked to leave Aston Villa”. Villa are 15/8 to finish in the top six.

Milner is seeking talks with O’Neill to rectify the situation amid reports that City (5/1 to win the league) are ready to offer £24million for the former Leeds United youth.

Elsewhere, United are close to offering Vidic a new £90,000-a-week deal in an attempt to steer him away from the clutches of Real Madrid.

Such is manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s desire to keep the player, he will break with contract protocol to persuade the Serb to stay at Old Trafford.

Maintaining Vidic, with whom United have a markedly better record when in the team, would increase the club’s 6/1 chances of winning the Champions League.

See the full Premier League betting market.

Mario Balotelli has agreed to join the revolution at Manchester City after Inter Milan reportedly accepted a £23million bid from the English club.

The transfer would take City’s spending past £100million, after similar big-money moves involving David Silva, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng. Left-back Aleksandar Kolarov is also close to signing for £17million.

19-year-old Balotelli arrives with a reputation for explosive strikes and even more explosive outbursts, having famously fallen out with Jose Mourinho while in Milan.

However, as boss at Inter, City manager Roberto Mancini enjoyed a good relationship with the forward – who has scored more goals than Roberto Baggio at the same age.

Should Mancini manage to focus the player’s fiery temperament on opponents rather than team-mates, a trophy could follow. City are 5/1 joint-second favourites to win the Carling Cup.

The similarity between City’s trolley dash and Chelsea’s splurge during the early Roman Abramovich years has been duly noted by most, with many pundits tipping City to win the Premier League this season.

The Eastlands team are 5/1 third-favourites to repeat Chelsea’s 2004/05 title-winning exploits, but a closer look at precedent would hint that it will be at least another year before they sit atop the pile.

An Abu Dhabi-backed supermarket sweep has stronger echoes of Blackburn Rovers’ quick-fire spending from the early 90s.

Jack Walker helped a small town reach the Premier League summit after investing around £25million from December 1991, while still in the old Division Two.

It took four and a half seasons for the title to be delivered – City have only been spending big bucks since the summer of 2008, after finishing ninth in the league.

In comparison, Chelsea had come fourth just before Abromovich came calling, securing the title a speedy two years later.

While City will hope for such a quick turnaround, Mancini will have his work cut out moulding all the new stars into a cohesive team.

After finishes of 10th and fifth, the curve is clearly an upwards one – but this season seems too soon. Maybe the FA Cup, at odds of 7/1 is more realistic.

However, ending the season in second may not be such a bad thing. Both Blackburn, in 1993/94, and Chelsea, in 2003/04, came runner-up the year before winning the title.

Man City seem assured of finishing in the top four – they are 4/7 to qualify for the Champions League. See the full Manchester City Specials market.