Bellamy drops United hint

Craig Bellamy has dropped a strong hint that Manchester United were keen to sign him from Manchester City this summer.

Roberto Mancini's decision to allow the Wales international to leave Eastlands on loan sparked a scramble for his services with Fulham,Tottenham, Sunderland and Celtic all confirming their interest.

But with City apparently not keen to allow him to join a Premier League rival, Bellamy eventually signed for Championship side Cardiff for the season before the transfer window closed.

Now the spiky forward has suggested that there was interest from Old Trafford, but accepts it would have taken a 'miracle' for him to join Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

"Garry Cook (City's chief executive) said to me it was the most phone calls he'd had on a player for a while," Bellamy said.

Realistic

"He said 'You should take that as a big compliment' and I said 'Yeah, they all seem to want me, apart from the club I'm actually at.'

"Tottenham wasn't going to get done and someone else came in above them as well, which would have caused a few stirs.

"If I had said I wanted to go there for one minute, my life at Man City.... staying there would have been really tough for the next couple of weeks."

Asked if he was referring to Manchester United, Bellamy added: "I am not going to say anything, but it would have been a tough couple of weeks.

"It would have been a miracle if it had come off. I sat down with my agent and we were realistic, do we hold out for it, or do I go on?

"And I think because of the other club being interested, I think Man City panicked as well and said 'you can go to Cardiff' and they pushed it through as quickly as possible."