Manchester City pay Craig Bellamy £2.5m to join Cardiff

By Matt Lawton for the Daily Mail and Neil Moxley Updated: 04:50 EDT, 18 August 2010

Manchester City will pay £2.5million to wash their hands of Craig Bellamy - and they have told axed keeper Shay Given he can go, too.

As City took their summer spending to around £126m by completing their protracted £26m move for James Milner, Bellamy sealed his shock season-long loan to Championship club Cardiff.

The controversial Wales striker, 31, will continue to earn the £85,000 a week he was paid at City and Sportsmail understands his new club will pay only around £35,000 of that, leaving the Premier League big spenders to pick up the £50,000 weekly shortfall.

Done deal: Craig Bellamy was presented at Cardiff City on Tuesday

City's generosity shows how keen manager Roberto Mancini was to remove Bellamy from his playing staff, but he was equally determined not to allow him to join a Premier League rival.

The City manager made it clear he feels differently about the Republic of Ireland's Given, who is weighing up his future after losing his place in the team to Joe Hart.

Given has been offered a two-year contract extension but Mancini said he would 'respect' the 34-year-old's decision if he asks to leave.

On his way? Mancini won't stop Given from leaving

'I can say that I hope he will stay with us,' said Mancini. 'But I accept his position. I hope that he can stay with us because we have four competitions. But I respect his wishes if he wants to leave.'

Despite Mancini's comments, official permission to speak to other clubs has not been granted and the only firm interest has come from Fulham, where Mark Hughes is keen to link up with the keeper he signed for City.

But Given does not seem keen on a move to Craven Cottage and, if clubs like Arsenal remain silent, he may yet choose to stay at City until January.

Milner, meanwhile, was in Manchester last night to complete his medical and will join City in a deal which will see Aston Villa receive Stephen Ireland - rated at about £10m - and a further £16m. Ireland will receive a pay-off from City of £1m.

'Milner's a good player, he can play in different positions,' said Mancini before wishing Bellamy well in his loan move to Cardiff. 'I'm happy for Craig,' he added. 'I hope he has a fantastic season.'

Cardiff pulled off their coup with the help of Malaysian backers Vincent Tan and Dato Chan Tien Ghee, who offered extra support to allow the club to exceed their £20,000-aweek wage ceiling. 

City slicker: Milner arrives for his medical yesterday

But rival Championship clubs were left questioning the fairness of City's £50,000-a-week 'gift' to Cardiff after the two clubs signed a confidentiality clause preventing details of the deal becoming public.

Bellamy did not want a wage drop, especially as it might hit his charitable foundation in Sierra Leone.

Cardiff chief executive Gethin Jenkins said: 'I can't go into details but an agreement has been reached with Manchester City and we're grateful for all they have done to make this happen for us and Craig. Our Malaysian investors have been fully supportive in this.'

City unveiled Italian striker Mario Balotelli yesterday and confirmed he would be in the squad for tomorrow's Europa League tie against FC Timisoara, in place of Roque Santa Cruz, who is likely to leav.