Manchester City seal £22m Joleon Lescott deal after 24 hours of legal wrangling

Despite Lescott, 27, agreeing personal terms and passing a medical in Manchester on Monday, City were forced to hold further talks with the player's representatives before finally wrapping up the transfer on Tuesday evening. The England defender has agreed a five-year contract worth £90,000 a week at Eastlands and he could make his debut in the Premier League encounter with Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Sunday.  Related ArticlesBilyaletdinov relishes Everton chanceMoyes eyes Distin nextCity set to complete Lescott dealAl-Mubarak defends City's transfer policyLescott on verge of £24m City moveSport on televisionCity had hoped to unveil Lescott officially at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, but talks relating to fees owed as a result of negotiations resulted in the planned unveiling being shelved. Manager Mark Hughes is now due to hold a press conference on Wednesday lunchtime, however, alongside Lescott and free transfer signing Sylvinho. Everton are closing in on the £5 million signing of Portsmouth defender Sylvain Distin as they begin to rebuild their defence following Lescott's departure. Manager David Moyes, who is also keen to sign Middlesbrough's Robert Huth, has sealed the £9 million purchase of Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. Moyes said: 'He's a player who I have admired for a while now. I wanted to bring him to Everton in January but it just never worked out. He's a left-sided player and he's actually got a bit of Kevin Sheedy about him.' Everton forward Yakubu was due to return to action for the first time since suffering an Achilles injury last November with a reserve outing against Burnley on Tuesday.  

Source: Telegraph