Ireland needs to 'change his head'

ROBERTO MANCINI has spoken of his belief Stephen Ireland will have to “change his head” if the talented but complex midfielder is to resurrect his career at Manchester City.

After a difficult season in which his form deteriorated and he found himself increasingly marginalised, Ireland admitted last week he was seriously contemplating his future at the club, saying there was “a lot of frustration bottled up because I have not played as much as I would have liked”.

The former Republic of Ireland international, who effectively retired from international football at the age of 21, is one of the more high-profile players, alongside Craig Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz and Shaun Wright-Phillips, who could leave City this summer, and has already expressed his frustrations to the club’s football administrator, Brian Marwood.

He has also had a meeting with Mancini, and his representatives will be having talks with the chief executive, Garry Cook, this week before deciding whether to put in an official transfer request.

“I spoke to Stephen two weeks ago but we must speak again soon,” said Mancini, who flew yesterday to Abu Dhabi for his end-of-season debrief with the City chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak.

“I don’t know what he is thinking about his future but, for me, Stephen is a fantastic player and if he can change his head I think he can start to play like last season (2008-09) again.”

One player set to join City is the 21-year-old Hamburg and Germany defender Jerome Boateng for €13 million, according to Mancini.

“We are quite close to signing him,” he said. “Boateng is a good player, a young player and strong. He plays for the national team and there is a good chance to get him.”