Manchester City face a massive pay-out bill to get their fringe players of their books.
The Sunday Mirror says Stephen Ireland's £2million demand to go to Aston Villa is just the tip of a financial iceberg.
He is asking for the kiss-off to make up for the shortfall in wages he will suffer if he joins Villa as a makeweight in the £25m deal that will take James Milner to City.
But now Robinho, Craig Bellamy, Jo, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Roque Santa Cruz and Felipe Caicedo are six big-money buys that have also been deemed surplus to requirements by the mega-spending Blues.
City are finding it impossible to find buyers who are willing to pay the asking price in transfer fees and also match the incredible wages that those players bank in Manchester.
