Man Utd, Man City head-to-head for Maicon

Manchester United and Manchester City are ready to go head-to-head for Inter Milan fullback Douglas Maicon.

The Manchester Evening News says Sir Alex Ferguson and Mark Hughes are monitoring the Inter Milan right back, who is also interesting Barcelona.

The fierce rivals have already locked horns over Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez in the last two seasons, while the rivalry between the two clubs has heightened further this season with the Blues' cheeky poster welcoming the Argentina striker to Manchester and United's last-gasp derby victory.

And now they are set to go head-to-head again in the January transfer window.

Maicon would cost around £20m, which would be no problem for either of the Manchester clubs.

Man City's Adebayor: We'd have beaten Man Utd if I'd been playing

Manchester City ace Emmanuel Adebayor was gutted to miss their derby defeat at Manchester United.

Adebayor, who missed the Manchester derby because of a three-match ban imposed for a stamp on Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, said: "No way did United deserve to beat us. I am sure I would have scored had I been on the pitch."

The Togo ace also told the People: "I had a bad afternoon against Manchester United because I am sure that if I had played that day then I would have scored a goal.

"It was a shame that we lost in added time. United did not deserve to win - a fair result would have been a draw."