Krong Angkor

Gago and Real blast Manchester City

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(GSM) - Fernando Gago is very disappointed that his move to Manchester City was cancelled right at the end.

The Real Madrid midfielder hoped to boost his World Cup chances by leaving Real this winter but his move to City was stalled at the last moment. "They used us," said Gago's agent Marcello Lombilla.

Manchester City launched their first bid on Gago last week and the Argentine midfielder felt the deal would be settled. However, City manager Roberto Mancini opted to move for McDonald Mariga, the Kenyan midfielder who signed for Internazionale at the last day of the transfer window.

The Citizens then returned to Real Madrid for Gago but it was already to late. They could not complete the deal until they had an official agreement from club chairman Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who they could not reach in time.

"They had nothing prepared, not even one document signed," Real's sporting director Jorge Valdano told El Pais. "They had not reached an agreement with the player and they would have had to have done everything in 40 minutes."

Lombilla is very angry at City, considering his client might miss the World Cup.

"This has never happened to me before," the agent told radio station Onda Cero. ""I don't want to talk about the figures that City were offering because they approached Madrid without even knowing there wasn't physically enough time to put something together."

Lombilla insists that Gago will now concentrate on getting his Real career back on track.

"Despite the fact he went from being 'untransferable' to suddenly 'for sale', he will always continue to work hard," he stated.