Manchester City try for Joleon Lescott after John Terry snub

Manchester City will now set their sights on Joleon Lescott after the failure of their audacious attempt to land John Terry.

Eastlands boss Mark Hughes has already made one informal approach for the Everton defender and will now offer more than his initial amount of around £15million.

And that will leave Lescott facing a big decision, with moneybags City ready to almost treble his wages.

Lescott is reluctant to push for a move - even though he would gain so much - because of his loyalty to Everton boss David Moyes, who gambled on buying him from Wolves.

Moyes is adamant he does not want to lose a key player and will fight hard to keep him, even if City increase their offer to £20m as expected.

It will leave Lescott with the stark choice of either quitting Goodison or turning his back on £90,000 a week - three times his current salary.

Moyes rejected an initial approach, but he knows he cannot compete with the cash Arab-backed City can offer.

There is a rigid wage structure at Goodison with no player on more than £40,000 a week and there will be no exceptions made - even to keep Lescott.

Everton could be forced to accept the money if Lescott is determined to go, allowing Moyes the chance to bring in a cut-price replacement and use the spare cash to pursue targets in other positions.

Moyes would be interested in taking England defender Micah Richards in part-exchange if the price was right.

And he has been monitoring Sweden striker Marcus Berg, top scorer in the recent under21 European Championship.

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