Man City won't cave-in to Real Madrid over Diarra battle

Lassana Diarra is angry with Portsmouth after delaying an agreement with Real Madrid.

AS says Manchester City are still in the frame for Diarra after Pompey had accepted an £18 million offer from Real.

Such was Real's confidence that they organised two flight tickets for Diarra to travel to Madrid last night, but that was blocked by Pompey in a dramatic afternoon.

Upon learning of Real's bid, a City representative, who had been negotiating with Pompey for over two months, immediately was on the phone to slap in an improved offer of £22 million.

After receiving the bid, Pompey immediately called Diarra and ordered him back to training. A fuming Diarra is understood to have told teammates: "I got it all done with Madrid and now they (Portsmouth) are telling me to wait a little longer!"

Diarra has made it clear to Pompey he wants to move to Madrid. However, sources at Real insist no deal has yet been done.