Sven's $10m Swoop For Bresh

MAN City boss Sven Goran Eriksson is set to make a $30million swoop for Socceroo Mark Bresciano and Liverpool striker Peter Crouch in January.

Bresciano almost joined City in the close season but the deal fell through at the last moment after the Socceroo had turned up for a City training session.

His Serie A club Palermo pulled out of the deal when the Premier League side refused to pay the $10 million transfer fee upfront.

With Bresciano a key part of the Palermo line-up, they needed the cash to replace him immediately and dropped out of the deal when City offered to pay in instalments.

Now though Eriksson has revealed new City owner Thaksin Shinawatra has given the go-ahead for a New Year spending spree which will include Bresh.

"I've spoken to the people upstairs and the news at the moment is good. I'm told that I can operate in January, so that is good," he said yesterday.

As well as Bresciano, City have also targeted out of favour Liverpool striker Crouch to bolster their attack after new signing Valerie Bojinov suffered a serious knee injury.

Eriksson wanted to buy the player over the summer but the tipped price tag of $30-$40million was out of the club's reach.

Now though Sven believes the Merseyside club will offload Crouch for just $20million, only $2.5 million more than they paid for him when he transferred from Southampton two years ago.