Source: Telegraph
Manchester City fail with Joleon Lescott bid
City contacted their Premier League rivals with an increased bid of £18 million for the central defender - but Everton have turned down the offer.
Earlier this summer, Man City had a bid of £15m rejected, with Everton manager David Moyes insisting no player will leave the club this summer without his approval.
A club statement on Everton's official website said: "We can confirm we have received an offer of £18m for Joleon Lescott from Manchester City and that offer has been rejected outright."
Everton signed Lescott from Wolves in 2006 and the player has gone on to become a regular in both the starting XI and the England national squad.
The club had been bracing themselves for another attempt to persuade them to sell the Birmingham-born centre-back.
City are keen to add the versatile Lescott to their expensive new squad, having failed to land John Terry from Chelsea.
It is understood that Lescott, who lives in the Manchester area, would be interested in hearing City's plans for him.
However, one bargaining point disappeared last night, with City defender Nedum Onuoha signing a new five-year contract at Eastlands.
It had been suggested that Everton may be prepared to do business if Onuoha could have been part of a new deal.
But by raising the bid by only £3m from their first attempt, City clearly have no intention of going close to the fee of around £28m which could see Everton reconsider their determination to keep the player.
Meanwhile, Lescott converted from the spot in Utah as Everton won a sudden death penalty shoot-out after their friendly match against an MLS All-Stars had ended 1-1.
Goalkeeper Tim Howard was Everton's match winner in the 4-3 penalty success, with three saves helping the Premier League side come out on top in Salt Lake City.
Howard stopped spot-kicks from Brad Davis, Davy Arnaud and former Arsenal and West Ham midfielder Freddie Ljungberg.
Although Jo and James Vaughan missed penalties, Leighton Baines, Phil Neville, Lescott and Jack Rodwell converted theirs.
Earlier, Louis Saha had given Everton the lead after just 12 minutes, capitalising on a poor pass from Stuart Holden and calmly beating former Millwall, Leicester, Tottenham and Fulham goalkeeper Kasey Keller.
However, Davis levelled in the 25th minute when striker Conor Casey outmuscled Baines and crossed for Davis to tap in.
City have confirmed that Elano has joined Turkish side Galatasary.
The Brazilian midfielder decided to move on after falling out of favour with manager Mark Hughes last season.
Following his arrival two seasons ago when Sven-Goran Eriksson was in charge, Elano quickly became a fans' favourite with a string of excellent displays.
However, his form tailed off in the second half of his debut campaign and he struggled for consistency under Hughes.
Elano, 28, scored 18 goals in 80 appearances for City and remains a regular member of the Brazil squad.
