January sales help save City

Manchester City must be the first club in history to bungle a transfer and make £1 million out of it.

Two weeks after Robbie Fowler's proposed £7 million transfer from Leeds collapsed amid complaints from the striker that he was being treated "like damaged goods", Kevin Keegan finally got his man yesterday at a revised price of £6 million.

Presumably there is a clause in the small print of Fowler's contract that he does not have to attend matches in which he does not play.

The prospect of this rapacious finisher combining with the pace and directness of Nicolas Anelka is one that will exhilarate City's supporters, among whom there was a palpable sense of disappointment last night that the new acquisition was not paraded before the game with Fulham.

Fowler, who has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal, will make his debut at home to West Bromwich on Saturday.

"I'm just delighted it's done and dusted," he said. "There were obviously a few problems along the way, but right from the first moment I met Kevin Keegan he has done nothing but impress me.

"I'm sorry to leave Leeds but Kevin has sold this club to me, really."

There is little doubt he is leaving a club in decline for one with realistic aspirations of challenging the Premiership's privileged few, even if it might take longer than their manager realises.

City have healthy finances, rich ambition, a new stadium to look forward to next season (this was the last night match at Maine Road) and a manager who despises mediocrity.

It will send Keegan's spending through the £40 million barrier in just 18 months at the helm.

With the transfer window about to close, Keegan is expected to be told he must sell before he can buy in the summer, which means departures are certain if he is to keep loan signings Marc-Vivien Foe and Djamel Belmadi, who will cost a combined £6 million from Lyon and Marseille respectively.

"The cheque-book is closed," Manchester City chairman David Bernstein said. "This transfer reflects the current state of the market because money is very scarce at the moment."