Manchester City’s contract talks with David Silva have faltered because of the Spanish winger’s contract demands.
Silva has two years to run on the £130,000-a-week deal he signed when he moved to the Etihad two summers ago.
The World Cup and European Championship winner wants to be paid more than £200,000 a week and parity with the club’s top earners Yaya Toure and Carlos Tevez.
But City have refused to go that far as they seek to streamline the club ahead of the implementation of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules.
City want to tie Silva down to a new long-term deal as he has been one of manager Roberto Mancini’s most important players.
It is understood club officials are prepared to go against their usual policy of not negotiating contracts during the season to try to reach an agreement with him.
Meanwhile, City are set for some bad news from Rome today as transfer target Daniele De Rossi is due to hold a press conference.
City fear De Rossi will reveal his intentions to stay at Roma and reject the Premier League champions’ advances.
More positively, City have bid £5million for Swansea winger Scott Sinclair and the deal is expected to be completed in the coming days.
By Ian Ladyman
