English Premier League

PEARCE EYEING WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

Pearce - still looking to recruit
Stuart Pearce will hunt for bargains until the transfer window finally slams shut on Thursday.

The Manchester City boss has already signed seven players this summer, although a combination of injury and red tape mean Didier Hamann, Andreas Isaksson and Hatem Trabelsi have yet to feature for the Blues.

However, despite Saturday's stirring win over Arsenal and confirmation Sylvain Distin will remain at Eastlands for the final year of his contract, Pearce knows there are still issues to be addressed, notably on the left-hand side of midfield.

Lens' Olivier Thomert, who can operate on the left or up front, continues to be strongly linked with City, although any deal is initially likely to be done on a loan basis.

"The chairman has finished his spending," said Pearce. "But I haven't.

"We are still unbalanced in the sense we do not have a left-sided midfield player.

"It is something we have been trying to address and will continue to do so until Thursday but it has been difficult because of the budget situation and the availability of players."

Pearce asked Georgios Samaras to fill the role during City's first two games, then turned to Darius Vassell for the Arsenal clash.

He has nothing but praise for the duo but admits the situation is hardly ideal.

"The beauty of having a squad of players who want to work for you is the fact that neither Georgios nor Darius questioned what I wanted to do," he said.

"They could argued against it, but they didn't and, under the circumstances, that is very helpful.

"Darius gave his lot for the team on Saturday and against Arsenal, you need unselfishness like that.

"But the left-sided situation is one we will have to address."