Dyer to cost West Ham £30m

This is how most fans will remember the Dyer era at West Ham.

West Ham's Kieron Dyer will have cost the club £30 million by the time his contract is up, even though he has started only five games for the club.

The Hammers bought the injury-prone midfielder on a four-year contract from Newcastle for £7 million in August 2007, and handed him a £70,000-a-week despite the club's medical team expressing concerns at time.

West Ham also had to pay £1m in agents' fees to push the deal through, which means that with wages and bonuses included the entire deal will cost the Hammers around £30m.

I guess Berbatov and Robinho can rest easy now.  This is clearly the worst £30 million plus transfer ever.

Robinho is ten days away from Manchester City return

via Yahoo!Sports:

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has revealed that Robinho could be ready to make a return to first-team action in ten days time.

A stress fracture of the ankle has kept the Brazilian forward out of action since City's game with Portsmouth at the end of the August, but Hughes is hopeful that he could return against Scunthorpe United in the League Cup.

"'Robi' is not far away, he's probably got about ten more days and then he can be back in the group," Hughes told City's official website.

"He's working every day, we're trying to get him back as soon as we can but with a bone injury there is a certain length of time to give the injury."

Hughes also had good news regarding Michael Johnson and Roque Santa Cruz, who have both made returns from long-term injuries in recent weeks.

He added: "They are both back in the fold, but they still need games and we are looking to get some more match-play into them, if we can, in between being involved at first-team level.

Tevez out of Arsenal match, Robinho Doubt

via Yahoo!UK/Eurosport:

Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez will miss Saturday's Premier League game against Arsenal, manager Mark Hughes has confirmed.

The 25-year-old picked up a knee injury while on international duty with Argentina, but City hope he will ready to face Manchester United the following weekend.

"Our doctor has spoken to the Argentine medical people and the feeling is that he is out for the weekend so he will not play against Arsenal," Hughes told the club website.

"The hope is that he will be okay for the derby, but we will have to determine that when he comes back.

"He is staying with the national squad because he needs acute treatment at the early stage of the injury, which is what he can get now.

"Flying him back quickly might compromise the injury, so he will be back towards the end of the week so we can assess him and hopefully get him ready for the United game."

Robinho, who faced Tevez in Brazil's 3-1 win over Argentina on Saturday, also has a slight knock.

"It's a different situation with Robi," said Hughes. "It's an old injury that he aggravated last year, just above his ankle.

"We are going to get him back as soon as possible, the hope is that he will be an option for the weekend."

For fantasy managers, Tevez to Bellamy is more or less a straight swap as would be Robinho to K2.  Otherwise, there's always Tuncay for a buck. ;-)

Also, the Fantasist has a great round-up of Premier League teams' injury status.