Manchester City to demand €7m for Kolarov as Galatasaray emerge as front runners

The Turkish giants are in pole position to land the left-back although Manuel Pellegrini's side will hold firm on their asking price despite being keen to offload the Serbian

By Paul Clennam

Manchester City will demand €7 million for full-back Aleksandar Kolarov, with Galatasaray having emerged as the front runners for his signature.
The former Lazio defender struggled for game time under previous City manager Roberto Mancini and new boss Manuel Pellegrini is keen to offload the 27-year-old from his wage bill, with Kolarov on €105,000-a-week wages at the Etihad Stadium.

Despite the Serbian's excessive salary, Pellegrini and City will hold out for their €7m asking price for a player that cost the club €19m when he made the switch from Serie A back in 2010.

Italian champions Juventus, who moved to sign Carlos Tevez from the Premier League runners-up earlier in the transfer window, retain a long-standing interest in Kolarov, although Galatasaray have emerged as the leading candidates to land the left-sided defender.

After making just 11 Premier League starts last season and often playing second fiddle to Gael Clichy, Kolarov would be open to a transfer in search of regular first-team football and has previously gone on record in saying he would have to consider his future if he remained on the fringes at the Etihad Stadium.

Should Kolarov leave, he would be the seventh player to have quit City this summer, with the likes of Tevez, Maicon, Kolo Toure, Wayne Bridge, Roque Santa Cruz and Jeremy Helan all having already departed.