Stephen Ireland at the centre of a transfer mystery
Published 00:00 10/08/08 By By Simon Mullock
Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland was at the centre of a transfer mystery last night after being told he was being sold to Sunderland - without the knowledge of manager Mark Hughes.
Ireland was late reporting for City's friendly clash with AC Milan at Eastlands after being told that a deal to link up with the Black Cats had been agreed.
He was then called to Hughes' office, named as a substitute and made a brief appearance as City beat the Italians 1-0.
Hughes insisted afterwards that Ireland was going nowhere but admitted: "I've come to a new club and things here are done differently to what I was used to.
"The fact that the owner (Thaksin Shinawatra) is not here does have an effect, but his legal situation was ongoing before I came here and is not an issue issue to me."
