Premier LeagueVenue: City of Manchester Stadium Date: Wednesday, 5 May 2010 Kick-off: 2000 BSTCoverage: BBC Sport website, BBC Radio 5 live, local radio and Sky Sports 1
Manchester City have strongly denied Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp’s claims that they forced Spurs to drop their efforts to sign Craig Bellamy.
Redknapp claims City threatened to out-bid Tottenham for then-Wigan midfielder Wilson Palacios if Spurs competed for West Ham’s Bellamy in January 2009.
"City said: ‘If you do not drop out of Bellamy, we are going to sign Palacios’," said Redknapp.
City have instructed their lawyers to look at Redknapp’s comments.
"City have made a robust response, strongly denying the claims," said BBC sports news correspondent Gordon Farquhar.
"City say Wigan approached them offering Palacios, while Spurs were in mid-negotiation for him, and that they briefly considered, but swiftly rejected any move for him.
"The Premier League say it is unlikely they will investigate the allegations."
Striker Bellamy moved to Manchester City from West Ham in a deal thought to be worth £14m on 19 January 2009, two days before Palacios completed a £12m switch to Tottenham.
"They said: "If you pull out of Bellamy, we will pull out of Palacios and then we both get a player," said Redknapp.
"We had no choice really. They just said ‘We will blow you out of the water’.
"They have got the backing, they have got the clout to do that, they can do it if they want somebody."
But at the time of the moves Mark Hughes, then Manchester City manager, rejected claims that the clubs had colluded to avoid bidding against each other for either player as "cheap shots".
Hughes bought another defensive midfielder, Nigel de Jong of Hamburg, on the same day Palacios sealed his move to Tottenham.
De Jong is one of a string of expensive acquisitions made by City since the Abu Dhabi United Group, backed by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, agreed a takeover on 1 September 2008.
The club splashed out a British record £32.5m to sign Robinho from Real Madrid later the same day.
Strikers Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz were recruited last summer for a total of about £68m.
While Joleon Lescott, thought to have cost about £22m from Everton, and Kolo Toure, a £14m buy from Arsenal, were added in defence.
Tottenham play City on Wednesday in a match that may decide fourth place.
Redknapp’s side travel to Eastlands in possession of the final Champions League qualification spot with City just a point behind.
The match is the penultimate game of the season for both sides with City and Tottenham travelling to West Ham and Burnley respectively on the final day.
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